Luz: Witch of the Scroll
by Goid
Summary: A lot can change in 5 years. Luz is a full witch in her own right now, while also being a wanted criminal. Amity has disappeared some time ago. King isn't the same little baby demon he was in the past. And when something happens to Eda its up to Luz and her friends to rescue her. Artist who did the cover art for this story can be found here: dave-ofc.tumblr(dot)com/tagged/Fan art
1. Witch of the Scroll

Luz awoke in her bed, in her room in the owl house. The sun was just cresting over the horizon and peeking through her window, illuminating the room. Luz sat up, stretched, popped a couple joints as she did and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Planting her feet on the hardwood floor and grabbing the railing of the bed she looked down at her hands, then up at her wrists and arms.

Magic circles were tattooed up both her arms in a straight line. Two on her forearm and two on her shoulder. Or at least, there used to be two on her left shoulder. The third glyph up was now replaced by a big batch of scar tissue, a constant reminder of her last fight. One she hopes she never has to repeat.

Tenderly massaging her shoulder, she shook her head, trying to rid herself of the negative thoughts that came with focusing too much on it, on him.

She went to the corner of the room where her witch's robe and hat hung. She quickly got dressed for the day. When fully garbed, she wore a white robe, matching white witch's hat, and special-made fingerless white gloves that had metal sigils embedded into the palms. As for accessories, Luz always carried around her trusty spellbook, a thick tome filled with magical glyphs that had a leather strap attached to its spine for easy carrying. Luz also carried a much smaller notepad sized book filled with glyphs, however, they were slightly incomplete. Finally, Luz had a bandoleer of sorts that she wore around her waist with three scrolls.

Fully dressed and ready to face anything the day threw at her, Luz went downstairs and found Eda already awake, making herself something to drink to wake up. King was still napping in his bed that was too small for him in the corner of the living room.

"Oh, Eda, up already?" Luz asked, walking into the kitchen.

As Eda turned to her, She could see the bags under Eda's eyes, the sag in her skin, the withering around her nails, the thinning of her hair. The curse had really accelerated her aging these past five years and it was starting to show.

"Yeah, gotta go get some stuff from the market, before I set up shop myself that is," Eda said.

"But Eda, the summer festival is today, why don't you come with me and Willow and Gus?" Luz coaxed.

"Oh, pssh, you don't want an old bag like me hanging around." Eda scoffed. "Besides, festivals like that tend to draw the Emperor's coven's guards and I'm a wanted 'criminal' if you don't remember. Now that you are one too, and all." Eda smiled and pointed at Luz as she said that last part. "So if you are really going to go to that thing, don't get arrested." Luz looked off to the side before answering.

"Yeah, I know. We had planned to have Gus disguise me before we went in. I learned from the best on how to not get caught." Luz smiled back at her mentor.

"Alright kiddo, have fun tonight. Where are you heading to now, though?" Eda asked, as she started to sip at her drink.

"Library, I'm still trying to master that new spell," Luz answered, walking towards the door.

"Oh, I swear Luz keep that up and you'll be a better witch than me someday," Eda said, sipping more at her cup.

"Someday?" Luz smiled back at her. Eda glares daggers at her.

"I may have taught you everything I know, but that doesn't mean I can't still kick your butt!" Eda chided back to the younger witch.

"I know, I know." Luz laughed. She stopped at the door and looked to her left, King was sleeping on the floor in the corner of the room. With a small blanket draped over his back. Luz remembered when King was just a tiny little baby demon, sometimes she wished that was still the case, he was so cute and it was fun to be able to pick him up and hug him, even though he didn't like it. What lay in the corner of the room now only resembled King in the face.

King's upper body was disproportionately larger than the rest of him, while his legs and head remained mostly unchanged. The result being that when he 'stood' he was up to shoulder height on Luz. He now mainly walked on his massive fists while his feet could barely touch the ground and his shoulders were so big they nearly engulfed his head. If Luz had to describe it, she would say King looked like a gorilla on steroids with baby legs and a tiny head. But, Luz and Eda loved him all the same.

Luz sighed before walking out the door and into the dimly lit outside world. It's warm, but her robe is fairly breezy. She quickly made her way to the library in the middle of town, passing through the market, just as all the shops were starting to open up. She waved to some of the stall vendors that she frequented as they greeted her. Luz also tried to ignore the people on the street that took a step sideways away from her when they noticed who she was, undoubtedly from her wanted posters that were plastered all over the city, right next to or over Eda's.

Luz made it to the library steps and walked up them to find the head librarian just unlocking the door.

"Hi, Mildred." She said, spooking the older mutant lady. Mildred had grayish curly hair and a single eye in the middle of her face. With a big, bifocal monocle.

"Oh, Hello dear. I was just opening up. You are here rather early." Mildred said as she turned around.

"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to get an early start on finishing up this spell I've been working on before going to the festival tonight with my friends," Luz explained with a smile.

"Oh, that sounds like fun. Well, I won't keep you, go ahead. With that, Mildred opened the door and let Luz inside the building. Inside, was a two-story building with Books lining every crevice. Every kind of book. From how to cook purple worms to what Luz was actually interested in, ancient magic history.

Luz had found out a few years ago, by pure luck of Eda mentioning it in passing, that before Witches developed a bile sack to cast spells they _also_ used to use runes to cast spells. Looking into it, she was able to find old dusty tombs at the library filled with spells using the old rune system that she could copy and practice. It was truly a breakthrough moment, up until then she was stuck with only the magic she could see done over and over again by Eda. This was like a whole new teacher.

Luz took her library book and a stack of paper with a pencil in hand to a section of the library that was a little odd. It was like an in-door firing range for magic. Since the library didn't let you check out books anymore, and it had several magic-teaching books it only made sense that witches and wizards would want to practice the spells they learned from the books before leaving the library.

Upon taking her spot at the 'firing range', which she was alone in she took a second to collect her thoughts. She reassured herself that it's okay to not master this spell today, there would always be tomorrow. She knew the spell was of high difficulty.

She reminded herself of Eda's teachings, she actually remembered the little monologue Eda gave by heart. More or less.

'Magic is more than just drawing a circle and casting anything you want. It's about bending reality to your will. There is a reason that a novice spellcaster can't cast master-level spells. As you cast a spell, you must know the intention, power, limitations and sometimes even the appearance of the spell or the spell will fizzle and fail. On top of this, you must have the concentration to hold the spell's form despite whatever is happening around you and the willpower to will the spell into existence. This is why spellcasting is a dangerous and difficult art.'

It's about the only time Eda sounded like an actual teacher and gave Luz a proper 'book' lesson. All the other lessons were practical lessons of dodging fireballs or making sure she could counterspell correctly.

Luz flipped to the page of the spell she had been trying to master for a few days now, drew the rune on a sheet of paper and concentrated. Then she tapped the paper and the Rune glowed. The paper crumpled and floated into the air. The paper ignited. Luz raised her hand, and with her palm facing forward pushed the air ahead of herself. Burning, the paper flew downrange away from Luz until it hit the far wall of the range and then the small ball of fire exploded outwards in a fiery explosion for about twenty feet in every direction.

"I- I did it!" Luz cheered. Thrilled over her first successful casting of the new spell she spent the next couple hours making sure she had it right, recasting the same spell over and over. Once she was satisfied, the last step was to put the unfinished rune in her small note-pad sized book so she never forgets the rune again. She kept at it until it was about time to go meet Gus and Willow for lunch.

"Bye, Mildred." Luz waved goodbye as she left the library and headed for a nearby tavern, The Witch's Brew. She was running a little late, but she knew her friends didn't mind too much.

Upon entering the tavern, Luz looked around and saw the bartender across the room from her, a couple waitresses serving food and drinks, and all sorts of people, mostly monsters and mutants, a couple witches, a few miscellaneous creatures, and finally she saw Gus and Willow sitting at the side of the tavern with a couple mugs of something, clearly waiting for her.

Willow had thinned out a bit over time and let her hair grow longer. That being said her face still had some roundness to it and she was still quite cute. Gus, while now technically a man still couldn't grow much more facial hair than peach fuzz to save his life. These were the life-long friends that Luz had made while on the boiling isles.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Luz says as she rushed over and took the seat next to Willow at the small table.

"Hey Luz," Gus said.

"Not a big deal," Willow said, putting her drink down.

"I was at the library, time got away from me, but I just learned a new spell!" Luz proudly proclaims.

"Another one?" Gus asked. "What's this one for? To give yourself gills?"

"It causes an explosion of fire," Luz said very matter of fact way. Willow just stared at her.

"When are you going to need to use that?" She asked Luz.

"Well… You never know." Luz laughed.

A waitress walks up to them. She is wearing a green skirt and a white blouse."What'll you all be having today?" She asked.

"Oh, just whatever is on the menu for today will be fine, thanks." Luz answered for the group.

"Alright, three of today's special." She said as she walks off towards the bar.

"So, ready for tonight?" Willow asked her two friends.

"Oh yeah!" Gus exclaimed.

"Yeah, it should be fun. I tried to get Eda to come with us, but she said she's too old for that kind of thing." Luz sighed.

"Well, King still wants to go, right?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, of course," Luz responded.

"Well, you can't force Eda to be social, Luz," Willow said.

"I know… I just bums me out to think Eda will just be home doing nothing while we are out at the festival tonight."Luz shook her head. "But, I guess that's her choice."

There is a silence for a moment before Willow breaks it.

"I remember back when I was little, going to the festival with Amity." There is a stillness in the air between the three of them for a moment.

"Wh-what do you think happened to her?" Willow asked, looking down at her mug, a confused sorrowful look on her face.

"No one knows, four years ago she just upped and vanished."Gus reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess I just hope… It wasn't painful, she didn't deserve whatever happened to her," Willow said.

The waitress came back with three plates on a tray and set one down in front of Willow, Gus, and Luz. Each plate had what appeared to be the roasted leg of… something sticking up from it, covered in gravy and surrounded by some kind of fruit. The waitress also set down a mug of honey cider for Luz who hadn't been present when Willow and Gus had gotten their drinks.

Luz looked at the plate with mild repulsion, but like with most things on the boiling isles you never actually know if something is going to make you vomit until you try it. The roast mystery meat actually wasn't half bad. The group ate, paid their tab, had a friendly conversation about what they were going to do at the festival later that night, then parted ways, agreeing to meet at Luz's house at sundown.

Upon arriving back at the owl house Luz found Eda gone, 'must be at the shop trying to sell human curios like always.' Luz figured. She found King awake, rummaging in the kitchen for food.

"Hey, King." Luz greeted him from the living room.

"Oh, hey Luz," Hey said, leaning over out from the fridge.

"Ready for tonight?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, the summer festival is awesome! I love winning all the games and being drowned in prizes." King said as he fished something out of the fridge and started to munch on it.

"Alright, well I've been up since the crack of dawn and I think I might have eaten some bad mystery meat that isn't agreeing with me, I think I'm going to go lay down for a bit," Luz said as she headed for the stairs.

"Okay, just don't oversleep you only have a few hours until the festival starts." King reminded her.

"I know." She soothed him and headed up the stairs. She gets to her room and shuts the door. She disrobed, taking off all her gear and putting it in its usual spot in the corner of her room. She sat and then laid on her bed, her stomach did feel a bit jumpy, but she wasn't sure if it was from the meal or not. Soon enough, though she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke a few hours later, judging by the sun's position in the sky, it was just about sundown when Willow and Gus were meant to be meeting with her at her house. Also when all the shops in the market close, including when Eda normally closes up shop and comes home.

Luz got up and re-clothed herself and came out of the room, she went downstairs to find King lounging on the sofa playing with a ball, throwing it in the air and catching it.

"King, what are you doing?" Luz asked.

"Waiting on you and your friends. You are my ride to the festival, after all." King said, catching the ball and holding it.

"Well, they should be here any minute." Just as she says this, there is a knock on the door. "Well, wouldn't you know it?"

Luz goes to the door and opens it to find Gus and Willow on her doorstep.

"Hey, guys." Luz greeted them.

"Hey," Willow responded.

"Hi." Gus waved.

"Ready to go?" Luz asked them.

"Yeah, if you are," Willow said.

"Alright, King, let's go," Luz said.

"Finally," King said, throwing the ball to the corner of the room before getting off the couch and walking over to the door and following them out.

Once outside Luz and King can now see that both Gus and Willow and brandishing their flight staves. Willow's staff has a peacock at the head and Gus's an eagle. Both animate and flap their wings during flight and work much the same way as Eda's. Since Luz was an outcast of 'traditional' school she never graduated and was never properly awarded one. Luz has her suspicions about how Eda acquired hers.

"Alright hop on," Willow said to Luz as she mounted her staff. Luz does so and looked over to Gus, who had also mounted his staff, however, King was a bit big for the staff and was having trouble staying balanced on the thing.

"Gonna be alright over there?" Luz asked King.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not that far of a fly," King responded.

Luz noticed, right before they left the ground a strange-looking black crow was sitting atop the house. There were no other birds around, just this single black crow, it looked at Luz. As if it knew it was being watched. But it just continues to sit there, staring.

The four of them took off from the owl house and flew towards where the festival is taking place, the next island over. All in all the trip took ten minutes. They arrived a little ways away from the festival entrance. They could already see the Emperor's coven guards at the main gate. Gus quickly casted a couple spells and to everyone except Gus, Willow, and King, Luz looked like a three-eyed green-haired witch in a black robe and hat.

"Just don't let anyone get _too_ close to you, or like, I don't know, touch your fake eyeball or something or they will realize it's an illusion." Gus reminded Luz.

"Got it. Thanks, Gus." Luz said.

"Don't mention it. Now, who's ready to get in there?" Gus smiled.

The three of them made their way to the front gate and to the ticket seller, Willow, King, and Gus bought their tickets without a problem. Luz went Last, She started to sweat when the ticket seller acted like he recognized her. He rubbed his chin, like he was pondering something before shrugging and giving her a ticket, and passing her through.

The first thing that hit the group once they were on the festival grounds was the smell. The smell of cooking food, pastries, sweets, and all kinds of delicacies. They had all eaten not too long ago so none of them were that hungry yet. So they made their way past all the food stands towards the game section of the festival. They knew they were in the right place once they started to hear barkers yelling at the crowd of people walking by, challenging them to play their games.

The group slowly made their way around the game area checking out every station to see what the game was and what the prizes were. Playing some, skipping others. They played a balloon popping game with 'darts', if you can call them that. They were just pixies with really sharp hats strapped to their heads. They played a game where the objective was to get the ping pong ball into the goldfish bowl without it bouncing out of bounds or a goblin snatching the ball away first. And they played a game about throwing a ball to knock over a few dastardly heavy bottles.

At one point a voice from beyond the crowd called out. "Hey, Tiny man!"

The group turned towards the voice. It was a barker. He stood next to a strength tester machine. One of those games where you whack the base of the machine with the mallet and try to ring the bell. He was a big guy, muscular, at least six and a half feet tall. And he was looking right at King. King was looking back at him, his eyes narrowed.

"Want to test your strength?" He had the mallet under his hand, the head of the hammer resting on the ground.

"Luz… Hold my stuff." King said in a low tone before shoving his stuffed teddy bear that he had won earler that night into Luz's arms. King saunters up to the guy, walking on his knuckles more than anything puffing his chest out.

"Yeah, it should be fun." He said with a look of defiance. He payed the barker for the game.

The barker reached back and grabbed a smaller mallet and went to hand it to King. King put a hand up in the stop motion, shook his head, then pointed at the big one under the barker's hand.

"Oh, you want to use Big Bertha, eh? Alright…" He hefted up the large mallet with some effort and offered it to King who used both hands to take it.

King took the mallet and felt its weight, the showman was serious about the mallet, it weighed more than it looked. King slung it over a shoulder, lined himself up with the platform. A few onlookers stopped and watched him about to perform his feat. After a moment, he took a deep breath and with a little yell, came down as hard as he could on it.

The little chunk of metal flew through the air and struck home as it let out a shrill _ding_ that was heard throughout the immediate vicinity. Some onlookers clapped before going back to their games or food. Luz, Gus, and Willow cheered.

"Wow, I didn't think you had it in you. Well, congratulations. You can pick anything you want." The barker told King as he waved his hand to a nearby wall of prizes. Up at the top, there was a small medallion necklace that he chose. The barker got it for him and KIng clipped it onto his collar.

The game stands were fun. They won some prizes, and by the end of it once they had done the full circuit, they were all carrying around some stuffed animals, a new shirt, a glowing toy wand, a hat, and a new ball for King to play with.

Now, it's time for some grub. They made their way over to the food stands. All kinds of foods were available. Meats on sticks are what King gravitated towards. Gus and Luz both got a sticky bun, a pastry with some kind of sweet ooze or sap coating it. Probably best to not ask where it came from. Willow, on the other hand, tried her hand at something deep-fried.

With their stomachs full, arms overflowing with prizes, and wallets nearly empty from having gone through the entire festival it seemed the night was coming to a close. All that was left was to watch the fireworks at the closeout ceremony. The four of them mounted upon their flight staves again and found a nice hill overlooking the festival, nearby were some other festivalgoers who had also found the hill to watch the fireworks. Gus went ahead and dropped the illusion on Luz at this point.

Soon enough, the fireworks started. They were bigger, brighter, louder, and more beautiful than the ones Luz had been used to on earth. The display was more complex too than anything she had seen during a Fourth of July celebration. The four of them 'oohed' and 'Ahhed' and muttered back and forth about their favorite designs during the show. The show lasted roughly twenty minutes, finishing off with a grand finale that left the black sky checkered grey with falling ash from the spent fireworks.

With the firework show done, and the festival officially over it was time to go home. First stop was the owl house to drop off Luz and King before Gus and Willow could go their separate ways.

They flew the ten minutes back to the owl house and when they arrived something didn't seem right.

All the lights were off. Luz didn't expect Eda to be in bed already. She wasn't THAT old. Luz got off Willow's staff and had a worried look on her face.

"You okay, Luz?" Willow asked.

"Uhh, yeah. Can you guys just stick around for a minute?" Luz asked.

"Sure?" Willow shrugged at Gus.

Luz walks up to the front door and notices something else off. The front door is ajar.

"Hooty?" Luz called out to him. Silence. She takes another couple of steps up to the door and sees that Hooty is unconscious. King, who had been following only a few steps behind Luz swallows loudly before calling out.

"Eda?" He half-shouted at the door.

Luz turns back to him with a deadly serious look, shushing him. She grabs her spellbook from around her waist and flips it open, quickly finding the spell she wants. She holds the book out in front of her with her other hand hovering over it like it's a loaded weapon. She gently opens the door.

The living room is trashed, things that used to be on the walls litter the floor, the furniture was flipped upside down. Scorch marks cover the walls. Beyond the living room, she can see much the same in the kitchen. Windows are broken out, shattered glass lays on the floor.

Luz quietly stepped inside and motions for King to follow. Getting the clue that something is up, Gus and Willow get off their Staves and cautiously approach the house. Luz searched the living room, checking corners and closets, finding nothing. She then checked the upstairs, which seems to have been untouched. With no intruders still in the house, Luz put her book away. Until Hooty wakes up she can't ask him what happened.

"Uh, Luz? I think you should see this…" King says from the living room. He was crouched down next to the couch. He put a hand on the couch and rolled it over, revealing what lay underneath: Eda's staff. And right next to it, an emblem for the Emperor's coven with a torn bit of fabric still attached.


	2. Investigation

Luz didn't say anything at first. She couldn't. She was too shocked by the realization she was coming to. The marks on the wall, the state of the house, and now Eda's staff and this emblem? This wasn't a simple break-in like Luz had thought like she had been hoping as she carefully searched the house for any intruders that might still remain in the house. No, this had been a fight, a struggle, and it was clear that Eda had lost. She would never go anywhere without her staff.

Gus and Willow entered the threshold of the house and stopped there, taking a look around the house, not knowing how to respond to what was going on. They silently watched as Luz retrieved the amulet and stood with it.

Luz turned around and showed the Emblem for the Emperor's Coven to Gus and Willow.

"Look at this!" Luz exclaimed.

"Is that…?" Willow adjusted her glasses, squinting at the medal Luz was holding tightly in her palm.

"The Emperor's Coven?" Gus finished her sentence.

Luz quietly reached down and picked up the staff. As soon she had the staff in her hands everything felt real, it broke her out of her shock. For so long Luz had longed for a stave like Eda's, but to inherit Eda's staff in such a way...it felt wrong, dirty. As Luz looked over the staff, she was reminded of all the time she had spent with Eda. Five long years, full of laughs, adventure, true friendship. Eda was family to her and having her torn away felt like a cold stab to the heart. Luz couldn't help but imagine the thought of never seeing Eda again, it formed a pit in her started to bring tears to her eyes.

"Th-they must have found her," Luz started to pant, her eyes began to dart around the room. Her head filled with ideas and scenarios about what could have happened, how scenarios could have played out, how things could have been different, what could have been happening to Eda at that very moment. "They must have come after Eda got home from the shop while we were still at the festival." She takes a minute to think about that. "If- If I had just convinced her to come with us to the festival none of this would have happened."

"Hey, you can't think like that." Willow tried to console her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, the question now though... What do we do now?" Gus asked the room.

King gave Gus a look, thinking he was moving too fast.

It was at this point that the pain, the hurt, the loss of having Eda stolen started to turn into something else. It crept up on Luz and was unnoticeable at first. It started as a warmth below her ears, spreading through her neck and cheeks. As her mind started to direct itself on other thoughts. Not on mourning, but on how to fix the problem, on how to get Eda back, and how to make the people responsible pay. Her free hand curled into a first and she gritted her teeth as rage became her primary emotion.

Luz then looked at Gus after a moment as if the answer was obvious. "We're going to get her back." She faced the door and started heading towards it.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Gus stepped in front of Luz, blocking her path out of the house. "Do you even have a plan? Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know." Luz gnashed her teeth together as she spat out her words. "I'll go start blasting the nearest Emperor's Coven encampment until I get answers"

"Okay…" Gus puts his hands together in the most calming gesture he can manage. "You could do that. But, that will probably end in you getting arrested and nowhere closer to freeing Eda. Instead, Let me offer this suggestion."

Luz didn't look like she was willing to consider whatever proposal Gus was cooking up until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see King looking up at her.

"Just hear him out, and after that, if you still want to go trash some Emperor's Coven jerks then I'll be right there with you," King said.

Gus takes a step around Luz to get to the center of the room to give himself some space to cast before doing a couple incantations. A map of the boiling isles appears as a hologram in the living room of the owl house, with a blinking "x" to indicate their current location. Then there was a dotted line traveling across the land northwest to a town Luz had never heard of with a circled dot.

"I know a guy. He lives in NorthHaven. He used to be part of the Emperor's Coven. If anyone knows anything about where Eda would be being kept, it would be him." Gus explained.

"How is this any better than just forcing them to tell us where they are keeping her?" Luz folded her arms.

"Well, instead of fighting a whole battalion of guards we won't be fighting anyone, Laurence is my friend, he will come through for us," Gus argued.

"Oh, I think I remember Laurence, he was your buddy in school when your two covens cross-trained, right?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, that's right, we got to be really good friends, even after he went back to his Emperor's Coven specific training. But eventually, he ended up washing out, so now he's our man on the 'inside' so to speak," Gus said.

"Where did you say he lives? NorthHaven?" King interjected. "Huh, never been there, but it looks like it's not too far of a fly from here."

"That's… the problem. You know that we can only get away with flying around town here because we are far enough away from the capital. Once we are about halfway to NorthHaven we are going to start running into the Emperor Coven's flying patrols and we will have to go the rest of the way on foot. This means we can fly about half the way there in half a day, but once we are on foot the going will be a lot slower. The second half of the journey will probably take us more like two days." Gus went on.

"Meaning?" Luz asked, still fidgeting.

"Meaning we need to get supplies because it looks like we are going to be camping outside for a couple nights, we will need a few tents, some cooking equipment, food to eat…" Gus started rattling off a list. "And… there is the issue that the market doesn't open until morning."

At this, Luz's heart dropped. She would have to wait until morning to even begin her quest to save Eda. Even though she was filled to the brim with anger, determination, energy, and adrenaline she would have to try to go to bed while Eda is out there somewhere in the clutches of the Emperor's Coven.

"Come on, Luz why don't you come home with me and you can sleep at my house tonight?" Willow asked.

"Y-yeah, sure…" Luz gave an unenthusiastic reply.

Willow and Gus walked outside, getting ready to head home.

"Hold on a second, there is something I need to check," Luz shouted from the doorway.

Luz ran up the stairs to Eda's room and went to the corner of the room. She got down on her hands and knees and started feeling around the floorboards.

"Now, where is it?" She asked herself.

After searching a bit Luz's fingers found the gap between the floorboard and the baseboard that make the perfect grip to pull the loose floorboard up. Which revealed a large sack of golden coins, neatly tied off with a bit of string. Eda wouldn't mind if Luz used this to save her, right?

Luz came back down the stairs and found King still inside, waiting on her. As Luz went to step outside King stopped her.

"Didn't you want to ask Hooty what happened?" King asked her.

Luz bit her lip indecisively. She then grabbed her spellbook and began to flip through it.

"I don't know if I have a spell to wake him up, I've never had to revitalize a house before…" Luz said. At this, King slapped Hooty.

"H-huh?" Hooty said, waking up.

"Hooty!" Luz said, taking a step closer to the owl. "Do you remember anything about what happened?"

"Huh? What? Where am I?" Hooty was too disoriented to even acknowledge Luz's question.

"Hooty!" Luz grabbed Hooty's face. "Focus!"

"Luz… Oh, what happened?" Hooty asked.

"Hooty, Eda is gone, the Emperor's Coven took her. You had to have seen something!" Luz said exasperated.

"Uhh." Hooty shook his head as much as he could for being stuck in a door. "Yeah, yeah I remember Eda getting home, then not too long later seeing three dark figures approaching the house. They looked like big guys, for me, anyway. They did kind of look like Emperor's Coven goons now that I think about it, but more… official? But before they even got close enough to say a word they blasted me and the next thing I know, you are waking me up."

Luz sighed, no particularly useful information. "Okay, I think I'm going to go stay at Willow's tonight. Is that alright? Are you going to be okay by yourself, Hooty?" Luz asked.

"Y-yeah, I should be okay, just a little sore," Hooty replied.

"In the morning we are going to go get Eda back. So we may not be back for a while, alright?" Luz told him.

Hooty nodded. "Please get her back, Luz." Hooty almost begged.

"We will," Luz assured him before shutting the door, turning her back and walking towards Willow who was waiting on her flight staff. Luz and King boarded Willow's flight staff and then looked over to Gus who was still waiting on them.

"Meet us at Willow's place at daybreak, Okay?" Luz said to him.

"Okay," Gus made the OK sign with his hands and took off on his staff.

Willow, Luz, and King took off as well. The flight staff was obviously not made for this many passengers and was flying slowly, and low to the ground. But, in time they made it through town to Willow's house. It was a quaint little house on the east side of town.

Willow lived alone now, having just recently moved out of her parents' house. It would have been nightmarish having to explain Luz's situation to them, and having them fret and worry over her, while at the same time wanting her out the door because she is a wanted criminal. Willow's parents never met her friends too much so they never made the connection between Luz and the ' Witch of the Scroll' wanted posters. But seeing her up close for a long time might jog their memory.

Willow put on a pot of tea once they got inside. King immediately started looking for a place to curl up and claim as his own for the night. He found a bean bag-like chair next to the sofa in the living room that he sank into as he laid down on it. Luz sat on the sofa, just recounting all the events that took place that day and tried not to think of all the horrible things that could be happening to Eda.

Willow brought three teacups into the room and placed one in front of each of them on the coffee table that sat between King's chair and the couch. King opened one eye to look at the teacup. He sat up enough to grab the teacup. He sniffed it a bit, then took a big sip before recoiling.

"That's hot!" He exclaimed. Then he chugged the rest of the cup and set it back down on the coffee table. Then laid back down.

"Thanks, Willow," Luz said as she took the cup and began to blow on it.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. No?" Luz said. She scratched her head. "I don't know what there is even to talk about. I just want tomorrow to come as fast as it can. I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep tonight."

"The tea should help with that," Willow said.

Luz smiled and looked at the tea. "Thanks, Willow." She said again, beginning to sip at her tea.

"I only have the one bed upstairs in my bedroom, so the only place for you guys to sleep is down here." She looked over at King "Looks like he already took the chair."

"That's fine, I can sleep here." Luz patted the couch.

"I'll get you a pillow and blanket," Willow said, putting her cup down. She went to a nearby closet and ruffled around in there for a bit before coming back with a pillow and two big fluffy blankets. She handed one to Luz and then draped the other one over King.

"Thanks, Willow," Luz repeated for the third time.

Willow sat back down and drank the remainder of her tea before breaking the silence between them. "We will go get supplies in the morning then head out, and in a day or two we will meet up with Gus's friend. He will tell us where Eda is, and we can plan on what to do from there, okay? But we will get her back, don't worry." After a pause she concluded, "Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

Luz didn't respond right away, trying to process everything, she knew the plan, but hearing it all laid out made her realize there was uncertainty in it. What if Gus's friend didn't have information? What if they ran into Emperor's Coven guards along the trail to NorthHaven? What if they get to where Eda is being held and they were too late?

"Yeah, okay." She responded weakly as she also finished her tea. She set her cup on the coffee table to be dealt with in the morning. Luz set up her bed, putting the pillow at one end of the couch and spreading the blanket over the rest of it.

"Alright, if you guys are all set up for the night, I should probably be getting to bed too then." Willow yawned. She headed for the stairs. "I'm right up here if you need anything, Luz."

"Okay, see you in the morning," Luz replied as she clicked off the light to the living room. She crawled under the blanket on the couch and heard Willow climb the stairs up to her room and shut the door. It was silent in the house except for King's breathing. Luz rolled over on her side and thought of Eda. A couple tears rolled down her cheek before she drifted off to sleep.


	3. New Adventure Awaits

Luz was up before the sun, her night of sleep had been restless and plagued by bad dreams. She wanted to get going, but she told Gus to meet her and Willow at daybreak so she could do nothing but wait for him to get there. King snored softly on his chair.

"Up already?" Luz heard Willow ask from the bottom of the stairs. Luz turned around to face her.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep too well, decided to just get up," Luz said.

"I see. Well, before Gus gets here, let's get some breakfast." Willow suggested. Willow walked into her kitchen and showed off her culinary expertise by making up a very basic breakfast for them to share. They ate as the sun started to peek over the horizon.

They both got everything they needed for the journey packed that they weren't going to buy at the market and waited on Gus.

Before long, there was a knock at the door. Luz almost ran to the door and threw it open to find Gus standing there.

"Hey, guys. Ready to go?" He asked. Luz and Willow both nodded.

The four left the house, Willow locked the door tight as she wouldn't return for at least a few days. They headed to the middle of town, where the market was. While they walked, Gus pulled out a tiny scroll and unraveled it before speaking.

"Okay, so we need four backpacks, four tents, four sleeping bags, cooking supplies, enough food for four people for around a week, four waterskins, a compass, stuff to start a campfire…Am I missing anything on my shopping list?" Gus asked.

"Toilet paper," King said flatly.

"Ah, I guess you're right." Gus took out a quill and quickly scribbled on the parchment.

They arrived at the market right as most of the shops were opening up. They browsed through the stalls and stands looking for their required items, not finding anything of use initially. After several minutes of going up and down the aisles they came across a stall with a large sign over the top of it that said 'Garthoon's survival essentials' There was a cyclops standing behind it, putting his wares out on the table.

After a quick look, they see that he has just about everything on Gus's list, plus some other things. Luz took the initiative and approached the stall.

"Hello there, you are open for business, yes?" Luz asked.

"Just finishing putting out all the merchandise." The cyclops answered.

"Great. My friends and I are looking to buy some things for… a camping trip." Luz said. The cyclops grunted in response, finishing putting out the last piece of inventory he had onto the table before turning his full attention to Luz.

"So, what do you need?" He asked.

"Gus, let me see your list," Luz called back to him. Gus came up and handed her the small scroll. Luz read the list off to the cyclops.

"Yeah, I got all that stuff. But it'll cost you." Cyclops smiled.

"How much?" Luz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One hundred.." He said.

"One hundred?! That's outlandish! All that equipment together is worth no more than twenty-five!" Luz said, her brow furrowed.

"Maybe, but you want a lot of equipment, and you look like you're in a hurry for your 'camping trip' or else you wouldn't be shopping as soon as the sun came up." The cyclops said.

"I'll just go somewhere else." Luz threatened.

"You can try, but no one else will have the amount of stuff you need, you might be able to find someone willing to sell a single tent or sleeping bag, but not four all together anywhere else but here." The cyclops responded smugly.

After a moment of contemplation Luz said: "I'll give you thirty for it."

"Seventy" The cyclops responded.

"Fifty," Luz replied.

"Deal." The cyclops smiled as he started to gather all the supplies. Luz got out her bag of Eda's gold and began to count out fifty coins. She pushed the coins across the table and the group began to load up with their new supplies, each person taking a backpack, sleeping bag, tent, and some portion of the food. Willow took the cooking supplies, and Gus had the toilet paper. Luz took the compass, and King took the equipment to make a fire, which ended up being a piece of flint and a knife.

With her bag of gold feeling considerably lighter, Luz turned to the group before saying, "So, do we have everything we need? Are we ready to go?"

"I think so," Gus said. King and Willow nodded. The four of them started to head to the edge of town. When they got there, they split into three groups. The three witches rode separately This would be how they would ride for the next half a day towards NorthHaven. Gus pulled out his holographic map again and pointed to the northwest of their current location.

"We will fly that way for a few hours, once either of us sees an Emperor's Coven patrol, tell the other and we will land and hoof it for the rest of the journey."Gus said. Willow, King, and Luz nodded in agreement. They all mounted up on their riding staves, and took off, flying no more than ten meters apart from one another.

The flight was mostly uneventful and lasted a few hours with little chatter between the group. Eventually, though, Gus spotted another hooded staff rider in the distance. He pulled up close to Willow, and then Luz and told them to land. They had been following a dirt road that connects the two towns, traveled frequently by caravans and merchants.

The group landed, got off their respective staves and stretched from the long trip. It was a little past midday as they began the long walk to NorthHaven. Along the way, they chatted about different topics. Gus reminisced about his time with Laurence again. Luz and Willow talked about past adventures. King brought up vital demon information when necessary.

They passed several other travelers going in the opposite direction on the road in the hours they spent walking. A few farmers, bringing into town some strange beast as livestock to sell. As well as merchants who tried to sell to the group random knick-knacks and trinkets that had no real value. However, for long stretches of the walk, there was no one in sight up or down the road.

When the sun was starting to set, and dusk began to fall on the land it was Gus who took the initiative to set up camp.

"Alright everyone, I think we have made good progress today, but it's getting dark, we should probably bed down for the night." Gus said.

"Alright," Luz agreed.

"Yeah, my feet are aching," added Willow. King just nodded in agreement.

The group got off the side of the road, near the treeline of the forest the road ran along and began to set up their tents in a circle.

"King, can you go gather some firewood?" Luz asked. As she attempted to set up her tent for the first time.

"Sure." He said. Before scampering off into the woods.

Luz finished her tent, then went to work on King's, finishing it up for him since he was out gathering wood for the group. Willow and Gus finished their respective tents and laid out their sleeping bags inside of them. Then they worked together to get all the equipment laid out to make dinner. Gus took out some of his rations, enough to feed everyone, and Willow brought out the cooking pot, the bowls, and the ladle to serve with.

The rations didn't _need _to be cooked, they were non-perishable, ready to eat meals, but heating them sure made them taste better. King came back with two armfuls of firewood, more than enough to last the night. He set up what looked to be a decent campfire and then went to his bag to dig out the fire starting kit. With the flint and knife, he was able to spark the dry wood ablaze after a few minutes of trying. King took great pride and joy in starting the fire.

Willow and Gus set up the cooking pot over the fire and dumped enough rations into it to feed four people. They let the pot come to a simmer before dishing out a piping hot dinner.

"Oh, we have nowhere to sit. Here, I can fix that." Luz chimed in, realizing the ring around the fire was bare of chairs. Luz walked close to the fire and kneeled, finding a bare spot of dirt. She pulls up the sleeve on her right arm and slams her right, gloved, hand down into the earth. The metal symbol on Luz's palm sinks into the earth and activates the spell. The dirt began to rise, forming a small column two feet high off the ground of compacted dirt.

"I can make my own, thanks," Willow replied, before drawing a circle in the air. The grass in front of her suddenly began to grow rapidly and form into the shape of an armchair.

"Same," Gus said, before also spinning a circle in the air with his fingers and having an illusionary high back chair from out of thin air.

"Uhh, Gus?" Luz asked.

"Yeah?" Gus responded.

"Isn't that chair an illusion? How will it support you? Don't you need a _real_ chair?" Luz finished.

"Like this." Gus smiled before plopping down into the chair, which sure enough, held him.

"How…" Luz began to say.

"The trick is you have to _believe_ it will hold you up. That's where all the power comes from in illusion magic, belief. If you don't believe what you are seeing, hearing, or feeling the magic won't work on you." Gus recited some old teachings he got back at the academy.

"Hmm…" Luz pondered that for a moment, then turned to King. "How about you, need a chair?"

"Yeah, actually make it a throne," King replied with a grin.

Luz giggled but walked over to where King was and repeated her process from before. A throne built for a king rose from the ground, made of compacted dirt. King noticed that the throne sat in a small crater now, though. All the surrounding dirt had gone into making the throne and had caused the ground to be in a slight dip.

With everyone situated with a seat, and a nice hot meal in their hands they sat around the campfire and told stories deep into the night.


	4. Eda

Eda awoke lying on a hard stone floor, her head was all garbled, she was dizzy. At first, she didn't even want to open her eyes. Her body hurt. Then the memories of what happened last night came flooding back to her. Eda's eyes shot open and she attempted to get up but found her body unwilling, too weak from the fight. She was able to push herself up off the floor enough to take a quick look around her surroundings.

She was in a cell. No doubt about it. It was large, though. Very large. There was an oversized birdhouse in the corner of the room. As well as several bales of hay in another corner. The ceiling also looked like there was some kind of trap door in it. Only a small amount of light illuminated the room from a lantern that hung in the hallway outside her cell.

That's when she noticed that her hands were bound together, thick glowing metal encased both her wrists, sigils inscribed in the metal. The manacles were connected to one another by a short chain.

Eda thought she knew what these were for. She tested them, drawing a circle in the air. Trying to call about hellish fire to burn her way out of her imprisonment. The spell fizzled.

'Great…' Eda muttered, her head was still pounding from a headache. Despite that, she tried to think about what to do next. How to escape wherever this place was. She didn't get too far into brainstorming her daring escape before she was interrupted.

"I see our guest is awake." came a cold, sharp voice. Eda turned towards it, she saw the dark silhouette of a figure standing behind the bars of her cage. Eda stared daggers at him. She recognized the voice, she knew who that was: The Emperor.

"It is so nice to see you again, Edalyn." The voice called. "Even under these less than ideal circumstances."

Eda doesn't respond at first, she took a moment to choose her words.

"So, why now? After all these years? I thought you had lost interest in me?" Eda asks.

"Oh, you misunderstand, Edalyn. It's not _you_ I want at all. Not anymore. After your former apprentice pulled that stunt and defied me, it got me… intrigued. She clearly has a lot of potential." The emperor explained.

"Wait, you are after Luz? What, you want to make Luz your next apprentice!?" Eda asked, shocked. The dark figure got a bit of a smile.

"And that's why I brought you here. To bring her to me. I knew she would follow you anywhere to rescue you so I'll have her walk right into my hands." The Emperor continued.

"No!" Eda yelled. "You only want to use her for her power, just like you did with me. Well, it's not going to work, Luz is too smart to play your game! She will never join you."

"Haha." The Emperor chuckled to himself. "Unlike you, Eda. She won't have a choice."

It was at this point a couple of feathers sprouted from Eda's elbow. She wasn't sure what time of day it was, but if she was sprouting feathers it had to have been at least twenty-four hours since she had last had a bottle of her elixir.

"My elixir, you have to give it to me!" Eda said in a bit of a panic, realizing she has no way of getting any.

"Oh, you mean _this_ elixir?" The Emperor pulls out a bottle of bright orange liquid. "Yes, I had heard you have been suppressing my gift all these years, instead of learning to control it."

"Your...gift?" Eda was taken aback.

"Yes dear, don't you remember? You had a nasty reaction to the ritual and went on a rampage. That was just before you betrayed me, betrayed all of the boiling isles, and left. I know the process has some adverse effects, but I've never had someone not remember it." He got a slight smile on his face. "Perhaps you are lucky, to not remember the pain of the ceremony."

"_You_ cursed me?!" Eda shouted at him in an accusatory manner.

"Don't be dramatic, if you hadn't run away you could have learned to control your gift long ago... However, if you prefer to be a beast, then I will make you useful to me." He then throws the bottle to the floor, shattering it. The orange liquid inside forming a small puddle at his feet.


	5. Stories

"You know, this stuff isn't half bad," King said as he finished off his dinner.

"I know, right? You two did a good job with this." Luz said, looking over at Willow and Gus.

"It was just some simple campfire cooking…" Willow says, starting to blush at the compliment.

"Well, I couldn't have done it," Luz said.

Everyone around the campfire finished eating and set their bowls aside to be cleaned in the morning.

"Well, it's still a little early to turn in. What should we do in the meantime?" Gus asked the group.

There was a silence between the group for a few seconds until Luz got an idea.

"Oh, I know. Let's tell stories!" Luz exclaimed.

"Stories?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, stories around a campfire!" Luz answered.

"What kind of stories?" King asked.

"Hmm... " Luz thought for a moment. "What kind do you guys want to hear?"

"Oh, how about you tell us how you got your nickname: Witch of the Scroll," Gus said.

"You guys know that story," Luz argued.

"Yeah, but I like hearing it." Gus smiled.

"Alright, fine…" Luz cleared her throat. "So there I was, in the crowd at Emperor Bellows birthday parade."

"I always hated those things," Willow interjected. "It's about the only time in the year that normal citizens even see him, and he just looks like such a jerk."

"Yeah, I know. This was several months ago now, but I was standing there in the crowd as his entourage passed by, then the makeshift portable throne he was sitting on came down the street. And there was this little kid in front of me who, just as the emperor passed, he must have tripped or something, because he basically fell out into the middle of the street, making the emperor's carriage stop dead in its tracks." Luz began her story.

"I wasn't around to see this part, I only saw the next part." Willow interrupted again.

"So the entire parade basically comes to a halt because of this little kid. And you should have seen how… angry? No, that doesn't seem like the right word. It was like, malice. That was on Bellow's face. He got up and shouted at the kid to get out of the way, and then without even letting the kid stand up he started whipping him with magical lashes." Luz continued.

"Geeze. So, what did you do?" Gus asked, feigning ignorance of the rest of the story.

"Well, I Jumped in and protected the kid, putting up a protective shield around myself and standing between the emperor and the kid. And then I said 'Hey! Leave him alone, he's just a kid!' You could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet in the street after that. It took him a second, but then the emperor yelled at me for being 'insolent' and he started to cast something, I think it was a lightning spell. Before he could finish though, I pulled out one of my scrolls" At this, Luz patted her bandolier filled with three scrolls that adorned her hip. " And I blinded him with my 'light' scroll. I grabbed the kid and ran back into the crowd, then down an alley before he was able to regain his vision. The day after that, I saw wanted posters of me strewn around town calling me 'Witch of the Scroll'."

"Wow," Gus said. "I still can't believe you stood up to the Emperor like that." Luz shrugged at his comment.

"So, who's next?" Willow asked the group.

"King, why don't you tell them how you got all big a muscley?" Luz suggested. "I don't think they have heard that story before."

"Hmm… I do like recounting my accomplishments… Alright, I will." King said as he sat forward on his dirt throne.

"So, about a year or so ago. Me, Eda, and Luz set out to get my power back. Now, originally how I lost my power was that it was stolen from me by demon hunters. They have some way of sucking the energy out of demons and leaving us… well, how I used to be. What we didn't know is that they take the energy and store it in these jars. We were able to get inside their hideout with a couple of disguises and an invisibility spell or two. And we found that the jar storage was actually tagged, so I knew just which ones were mine. It would have been obvious either way, mine were bigger than all the other ones in the place. In fact, not only were my jars the biggest, but I had two of them. They apparently weren't able to contain all the energy in one so they split it in half. I emptied one jar on the spot. But it takes a while, think of having to drink a gallon of spider-milk all at once. Before I could start on the second jar, the demon hunters caught on. We had to leave the other jar behind and run or else I would just have the energy sucked out of me again. And that is how I got to look like this, half-powered." King concluded his story by waving his hand over his body as if displaying it.

"Wow, geez buddy, I just always thought you went through puberty or something." Gus laughed.

King scowled at him. "Please, I am a full-grown demon. I went through my metamorphosis years ago."

"Well, why didn't you guys go back and try to get the other jar?" Willow cut in.

"We were going to try, but after our break-in, they locked that place down tight. Lots of new security measures. We would have to just bust down the door and fight them all to get my other jar. And doing that in the middle of the city seemed like a bad idea." King told her.

"Go at night?" Gus suggested.

"They started having at least one guard around the clock and it would be easy for him to raise the alarm before we could take him out. But don't think I haven't thought about doing it anyway." King Explained.

"Hmm…" Gus hummed to himself, trying to figure out a way to get King's energy back.

"So, one of you two is up next," Luz said, as she looked over to Gus and Willow.

"Hmm, yeah I guess I have one," Willow said. "It's not of great bravery or adventure like you two's stories, but I guess it might be worth a laugh."

"Okay, what do you got?" Luz asked.

"Haha, it's a little embarrassing, but It's about the only time I got detention," Willow said.

"_You_ got detention?" Luz asked.

"Alright, let's hear it," King said.

"Okay, I was in Mrs. Nightingale's class during the last year of school. And I had just turned in my class project, which was making a flower grow without using magic. I had put a lot of work into it, but Mrs. Nightingale just tore into it, telling me everything I did wrong. I kind of lost my temper, and sort of… accidentally made one of the giant carnivorous plants in the room grab and start chewing on her." Willow said. "Haha, we quickly got her out, and she wasn't really hurt, but yeah, I got detention for that."

"And I thought I was the only delinquent here." Gus teased.

"I was never as bad as you!" Willow chided back. "Come on, let's hear one of _your _stories."

"Alright, fine. This is back in school as well. I had quite the streak of getting in trouble the last couple of years I was in school. I had been using illusion clones of myself to take notes in class while Me and Laurence would skip and go do whatever. That day I think we ditched school altogether and went into town to get some lunch. We were out for a couple of hours, and when we came back Principal Bump was waiting for us. Apparently one of my teachers figured out that I was using clones. He said 'detention isn't enough for you two'." Gus mocked Principal Bump as he said the last line.

"After that, he made us scrub graffiti off lockers as punishment, and made sure I wasn't using a clone to do it either," Gus finished.

"Wow, Gus I didn't know you were a bad kid," Luz said.

"I'm- the rule about no clones is stupid. If we have the ability why can't we use it? Why do they teach us stuff if we aren't allowed to use it?" Gus huffed, crossing his arms.

By that time, after each of the group told a story, it got dusk outside. The sun had just set over the horizon and was no longer visible, only its ambient shine still illuminated the sky.

"Alright, it looks like it's about time to turn in," Gus said, looking at the sky.

"But I'm not really that tired yet," Luz complained.

"Go to bed early, get up early, then we can spend the whole day getting to NorthHaven. I think we will make it there by dusk tomorrow." Gus argued.

"I'm surprised you aren't tired from walking all day," Willow said to Luz. "My calves are sore already." Luz shrugged.

"Fine, everybody hit the sack." King chimed in before getting up and walking towards his tent.

"Yeah, probably a good idea," Willow replied, standing up from her seat of vegetation.

"Alright…" Luz pouted.

Everyone got up from their seats, said goodnight to one another, and went to their separate tents. Luz crawled into her tent and fastened it closed behind her. She crawled into her sleeping bag and looked at the ceiling of the tent. She spent the next thirty minutes tossing and turning with a restless mind, thinking about Eda, King's power, Gus and Laurence, and if their plan will even work. Luz sighed and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind before eventually getting to sleep.


	6. Laurence

Dawn came early upon the small campsite. Luz awoke with streams of early morning light coming into her tent. She rose from bed, yawned and stretched then went about getting ready for the day. She emerged from her tent to find that King was already up, munching on one of his rations for breakfast.

"Hey. How is it cold?" Luz asked, pointing at the ration.

"Ehh, not as good but edible." King shrugged.

The campfire had died out overnight, and it seemed like Gus and Willow were still in their tents. Luz went up to each of their tents and whispered to them that it was time to get up. Gus was a light sleeper and woke up immediately. Willow had to be nearly shouted at to rouse. Once they both stumbled out of their tents, eyes half-closed from grogginess. Gus and willow sat in their respective chairs from last night and did as King did, eat a cold ration for breakfast. Once done, they both started to pack up camp, knowing getting on the road early was for the best. Luz went ahead and started making herself useful, using some very basic magic to clean the dishes from last night. She wasn't hungry.

Once everyone was packed up, which wasn't easy with the tents, The group started down the road again. For miles they ran into no one, only each other to keep company. A while further they found another campsite on the side of the road. It seemed a caravan of merchants had made up their camp last night and slept in their mobile shops, which were pulled by four-legged beasts that were tied to nearby trees.

Once it was midday, they started to see other people on the road, again it was mostly farmers and merchants traveling to different towns trying to sell what they had. Every so often they would look up as one of the aerial patrols whizzed by. When the sun was starting to touch the horizon at the end of the day the group could finally make out NorthHaven. Not wanting to sleep outside again they decided to keep walking and make it to Laurence's.

Upon entering the town they passed large stone walls that enclosed the town. They were slightly harassed by the militia soldier that was standing guard at the gate. He asked them what their business was, and to check their bags, to 'make sure they weren't smuggling illegal goods into the town.' The group agreed to be searched, they didn't have anything to hide. After a quick rummaging through their bags, the guard was satisfied and let them pass.

"What a jerk," Willow said once they were into the town proper and out of earshot of the gate guard.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter, we are here!" Luz exclaimed, motioning around herself. "So, where does Laurence live, anyway?"

"At the other end of town, near the wall," Gus told her.

"Uhhg, of course, he does." Luz sighed.

The group walked through town, passing the market that was now closed, the last merchant was just finishing putting his things away for the night. There weren't a lot of people out. That is until they passed the local tavern, which was quite lively. The lights were bright, and you could hear music from the street. As well as the raucous conversations and laughter that all jumbled together into the low roar of a crowd. King instantly started drifting towards it.

"Hey!" Luz admonished him. "We aren't here to party, we are here to get Eda back."

"Yeah but... " King looked between the bar and Luz. "can't we just pop in for five minutes?"

"Maybe after we talk to Laurence. Maybe." Luz smiled.

"Fine," King said disappointed.

Everyone continued on their way, making it to the edge of the city. Gus guided them down some narrow back alleys until they arrived at a house. It was two stories tall and rather slender, crammed in between two other buildings without any alleyways to speak of between them. Gus steeled himself and then knocked on the door. It took a while, several minutes in fact before the door opened.

"What is it, I was in the middle of din-" Laurence cut himself off when he saw the four of them standing on his step.

"Hey, Laurence…" Gus said, holding up a hand with a weak smile.

"Nope, no way," Laurence said before firmly shutting the door.

"Laurence!" Gus started to pound on the door. "Open up, this is an emergency!"

"Go away!" Laurence shouted from inside.

"Eda was kidnapped and we think you are the only person who would know where she was taken!" Gus said through the door. There was silence for a moment. "You owe me!" Gus finished.

The door creaked open again, just enough for Laurence to look out.

"Eda, the Owl Lady? Why do you think I would know where she is?" Laurence asked.

"Because…" Gus leaned in to whisper the next part. "The Emperor's Coven took her."

Laurence was silent for a moment. Then he opened the door more, enough for his head to poke outside. He looked behind Gus at the rest of the group. He noticed Willow and his eyes perked up a bit, but then he set his eyes on Luz, and he squinted hard.

"Is that- Is she 'The Witch of the Scroll?" Laurence asked, flabbergasted.

"Uh, yeah… meet Luz." Gus said, taking a step to the side, letting Luz walk up next to him.

"Hi," Luz said, giving a light wave. Laurence chewed on his lip.

"Well, I would like to hear that story. And I guess I do owe you one… Fine, come in." Laurence said as he opened the door all the way. The group was ushered in, Inside, was a modest living room. A couch and an armchair sat across from one another. Beyond the living room was the kitchen with a table set up with a bowl at one end of the table.

"Alright, sit." Laurence motioned towards the couch and chair. He then walked into the kitchen, grabbed the chair that was at the end with the bowl, and drug it into the living room, sitting in between the couch and the armchair. King, Luz, and Willow sat next to each other on the couch and Gus sat across from them in the armchair.

"Alright, so, spill," Laurence said, looking at them with intent.

"Oh geez, where do I start?" Luz said, trying to recollect everything that has happened in the past couple of days.

"Luz, Gus, King, and I went to the Summer Festival two days ago." Willow started.

"Okay…" Laurence said, narrowing his eyes.

"We were gone for a while, and when we got back to The Owl House, the place was trashed and Eda was gone." Luz continued Willow's story.

"So what makes you think it was the Emperor's Coven?" Laurence asked.

"We found Eda's flight staff and an emblem for the emperor's coven that Eda must have torn off one of them during the fight." King cut in.

"I see… is that it?" Laurence asked, sitting back in the chair.

"What do you mean?" Luz asked.

"Well, is that the only reason you think it was the emperor's coven? That could have been planted there to make you think it was them when someone else got her." Laurence said.

Luz hadn't even thought of that. She was so focused on getting Eda back and getting back at the Emperor's Coven she never even considered it might have been put there to get her chasing the wrong lead. Luz's face dropped at the realization that she might have been wasting all this time. But then she remembered what Hooty said.

"Wait, no it's not. Hooty said that before he got knocked out, he saw three dark, big figures. He said they looked like Emperor's Coven types, but more 'official'. " Luz said.

"Wait… more 'official'? Oh boy…" Laurence let out a long breath.

"What?" Luz asked.

"Back when I was training to be part of the Emperor's Coven, there were rumors that circulated around," Laurence explained.

"Rumors?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, rumors that the most elite of the Emperor's Coven get chosen to be the Emperor's personal task force. It's said they are like enforcers or assassins. Any really shady stuff he needs to be done." Laurence explained.

"Okay… so what does that mean?" Luz asked.

"Well, if you are looking for Eda, and she was taken by The Black Hand I don't know where she would be. Someone arrested by The Emperor's coven is normally just given over to local authorities. But with these guys, I don't know where they would have taken her. If I had to guess, it would be the maximum-security prison in the capital."

"Then that's where we'll go!" Luz exclaimed, fiery determination burning in her eyes again.

"Wait, I'm only guessing! You can't just storm a prison and try to break someone out based on a hunch!" Laurence interjected.

"Well, what do you propose we do? You were our only lead." Willow asked.

"Hmm…" Laurence stroked his chin. "I might know someone who would know. Back when I was training to be in the Emperor's Coven, Ms. Clawthorne and I became really close, She used to be a high-ranking member in the Emperor's coven. She is the only person I can think of that might know something."

"Wait, did you say 'Clawthorne'?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, why?" Laurence asked back.

"Her first name wouldn't happen to be Lilith, would it?" Luz continued.

"Yeah, it is actually. How did you know?"

"That's Eda's sister!" Luz nearly shouted.

"Wait, what? I didn't know that." Laurence said. "She never talked about her family. I guess I know why now."

"If Lilith knows where Eda might be, can you contact her for us? Or tell us where she is so we can talk to her?" Gus asked.

"Well, she doesn't live here. She lives up north, towards the capitol, in Ribcage City." Laurence finished.

King chuckles to himself. Everyone in the group turned their attention to him.

"What's funny?" Luz asked.

"Oh, it's just… Ribcage City, that brings back memories." King smiled.

"You've been?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, a long time ago, back when I had all my power," King said.

"So you know where it's at, you can take us?" Gus asked.

"What's it like?" Willow chimed in.

"Yeah, I guess I could lead the way. And it's uh… Well, the parts of town I frequented anyway, aren't a place for children if you know what I mean." King let out a small laugh.

"Well, if you are going, I know her address, I can give it to you." Laurence said, getting up from his chair and going to a nearby desk, grabbing some parchment, and quickly scribbling down Lilith's address.

"Here," Laurence said, holding out the paper to Gus.

"Thanks, Laurence. I knew we could count on you." Gus smiled.

"Yeah… well, you are just lucky I wanted to hear more about her." Laurence said, motioning over to Luz. "Speaking of which, why don't you tell me your story. I know you are wanted, but I don't know why."

"Oh, well okay sure I'll tell you, after all, you have helped us quite a bit." Luz then recounted the tale of how she got her nickname to Laurence.

"Wow. I'm surprised you got away. In the past, people that have stood up to the emperor are executed on the spot." Laurence said.

"Yeah, haha…" Luz said rubbing the back of her head, remembering that if she gets caught she will probably be killed.

"So wait, you said you used a scroll to cast your light spell. I've never heard of that before, why didn't you just do it the normal way?" Laurence asked.

"Haha, I can't." Luz flicks the top of her ears. "I'm human."

"Oh!" Laurence straightens up. "But, I thought humans couldn't do magic?"

"Well, Normally we can't. But, I have learned how to use glyphs." Luz pulls out her spellbook. She flips it open to a random page. There are two glyphs, one on each page. "I draw the right glyph for the spell I want, and then I touch them to cast the spell."

"But… humans don't have bile sacks, how does the spell have any energy?" Laurence asked, intrigued.

"It uses the energy of whatever it is drawn on, consuming it in the process." Luz flips to the first page in the book.

"Watch," Luz instructed as she tapped the glyph. The page crumples in on itself and turns into a glowing yellow orb of light.

"Whoa, that's insane!" Laurence exclaimed. "But wait, doesn't that mean you can only cast what you have in your book?"

"Yep, that's why I carry it around everywhere. With the glyphs pre-drawn I can simply open to the spell I want and tap it to make it go off." Luz said, proudly.

"So then why do you use scrolls?" Laurence asked.

"These." Luz patted her scrolls. "Are for fights, or when I need a spell really quickly and don't have time to flip through my book looking for it."

"I see. And I noticed you also have glyphs on the palms of your gloves. How does that work?" Laurence asked.

"It's like a stamp, I can pound my palm into anything soft, instantly making the glyph to cast the spell," Luz told him.

"And I see the glyphs on your palms are different. But they look… mirrored of one another." Laurence observed.

"Yeah, this one." Luz held up her right hand. "Is the glyph of creation, I can put this symbol on, say, dirt for example, and mold the dirt into a new shape. It makes something from raw materials."

"And your left?" Laurence said.

"Well, sometimes you need to break the stuff down before you can remake it. This is the glyph for destruction." Luz said.

"How useful is that?" Laurence asked.

"Well, let's say we are out in the wildness and it's been snowing. We want to make a campsite but there are several inches of snow on the ground. I can just press this baby into the snow and clear a site of dirt for us to build a fire and put up tents." Luz continued.

"But the snow doesn't just vanish, right?" Laurence asked.

"No, I deconstruct it into its two base elements, hydrogen, and oxygen. Both are gasses so I'm basically making all the snow just sublimate into the air." Luz said.

"Hydro-what?" Laurence asked, confused.

"Oh, right you never went to my kind of school. Nevermind. I turn the snow into gas." Luz explained.

Laurence thought about it for a moment. "One more question. What if you forget a glyph and you don't have it in your book?"

"I have this little book that I keep all the glyphs recorded in so I never forget one. I don't cast out of this book, though." Luz said, pulling the small notebook from her robe.

"But what if something happens and you use up all of a certain spell from your spellbook? What then?" Laurence asked.

"I keep the back third of my spellbook blank, to refill on spells I use, or to add new ones I learn. And eventually, I'll need to go buy a new spellbook." Luz explained.

Laurence nodded and sat there, contemplating this complex magic system. A silence fell over the room.

"So… When you first opened the door, you told us to go away. Gus told us you two were good friends. What happened?" Willow asked, breaking the silence.

Laurence huffs and crosses his arms, he side-eyes Gus. "Well, we _were_ good friends, but Gus here was the reason I had to spend an extra year in school."

"That's... " Gus began to defend himself only to get caught on his words and fall back silent.

"How did he do that?" Willow asked.

"Heh. We were skipping classes one day. And Gus here thinks it's a good idea to prank Principle Bellows, but painting his Flight Staff pink. I was against it, I told him not to do it, but I stupidly accompanied him while he did it. He caught us in the act. Or should I say he caught _me_ painting his flight staff." Laurence scowled at Gus.

"Look, I'm sorry man, I panicked and I couldn't turn both of us invisible." Gus tried to apologize.

"I looked over, and Gus had vanished. I was left standing over a pink flight staff, alone. I didn't sell Gus out, so Bellows decided I should redo the entire year." Laurence finished with an annoyed expression on his face. "I'm lucky I was even selected to be part of the Emperor's Coven training program after that."

"Sorry…" Gus said in a low tone.

The room fell silent once again.

"Gus also said you owed him one, what's that about?" Willow asked.

"Ehh, after we had our fight about the flight staff and Gus ditching me to take all the blame, I ended up getting into a bit of a fight with one of the school bullies and two of his friends. Gus stepped in and helped me fight even though it was still a two on three. Together we were able to make them back off, for good." Laurence explained.

"Sounds like fun," King says.

There was another pause in the conversation.

"Uhh, Laurence. Changing topic, but we were actually hoping we could stay the night…" Willow said. "But I understand if you don't want us to."

"Uhg, fine. But only one night." Laurence said after a bit of contemplation.

"Yeah, we plan on leaving in the morning," Luz said.

"Alright, I have a spare bedroom upstairs, but the rest of you will have to sleep down here," Laurence explained.

"That's fine," Gus said.

"Luz, why don't you take the bed upstairs, I guess willow can have the couch, and Gus can make his own bed. I can sleep in the chair." King suggested.

"Are you both alright with that?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay with it," Willow said.

"Yep," Gus responded.

"Well, it's already dark out, we should probably get to bed so we can get moving in the morning," Luz said.

"Agreed," Gus said.

"Alright," Willow said.

Luz and Laurence bid everyone good night and headed for the stairs. Upon getting to the top she saw two doors, one was open and she could see that the room was clearly lived in, with dishes of old meals laying around, and the bed a mess. It was obviously Laurence's room. Laurence was ahead of her and went into his room, looking back and wishing Luz goodnight before shutting the door. Luz opened the other door and found a nice, cozy-looking bed, and a dresser devoid of any clothes. Other than those two pieces of furniture the room was bare. Luz undressed and crawled into bed. The sheets were cool, but would quickly warm up.

"I'm coming, Eda," Luz said to herself as she looked up at the ceiling.


	7. Amity

Amity awoke. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. The morning sunlight was streaming through her small window. She sighed at the brand new day.

Amity took the time alone in the morning before the day started to contemplate the last few years, recounting all the major events and tried to find an answer as to why she felt the way she did.

"Miss Blight?" a voice called through her bedroom door. "Are you awake? You have a busy day ahead of you."

"Yes, Hilda. I'm awake." Amity grumbled. She rose from her bed, stretched, and got dressed. She wore a long black hooded robe. The symbol of the Emperor's Coven acted as a clasp on her chest, holding the robe together.

She opened the door and found Hilda, her assistant, waiting on the other side. Hilda wore the uniform that the servants of the castle were made to wear. Hers was a little bit better quality than the uniforms of, say, the cooks. But just the same, she was a servant. Despite that, over the years that Hilda had been in her service, she had become Amity's closest friend in the castle.

"Yes, Hilda, what do you have on the docket today?" Amity asked, a slightly annoyed tone in her voice.

"Well, there are your morning rituals, of course, then you need to honor a couple of soldiers," Hilda said, looking down a small piece of parchment.

"Honor? What for?" Amity interrupted.

"Umm… I think they brought in some dangerous criminal. One on the 'most wanted' list." Hilda said.

"Okay, what else?" Amity asked.

"Uh, Oh! You need to prepare for your private training with Emperor Bellows this evening." Hilda continued. "Miss Blight, if you don't mind me asking, I have always been curious what the private training is like, no one except the Emperor and his apprentice are allowed in the training hall during that time."

"Ahh… It's just magic training, but really intense" Amity said, shifting her eyes to one side.

Amity began to descend the spiral staircase that led up to her tower bedroom. Upon reaching the bottom she saw the normal going ons of the castle. Soldiers standing at entrances of the building and almost every doorway leading to the Castle's throne room. Servants doing the cleaning, keeping the castle in top condition.

Amity headed for the garden. It was only a short walk until she emerged in the daylight. She squinted at the bright morning sun. She was still surrounded by thick stone walls, but this place was special to her, she could always come here when her mind was troubled and try to relax. Amity used some basic magic to water the flowers, pruned a couple of roses, then went and sat on a stone bench in the middle of the sprawling garden.

Next to the bench, a large flower grew. This was her favorite flower, it was magenta in color and its leaves were full and lush. It reminded her of her childhood, which seemed like a lifetime ago. Despite the fact that she had been chosen to be the Emperor's apprentice five years ago, and was forced to give up on anything else she might have been or wanted to do, she still held onto the memories from her past for comfort. This flower in front of her, it was the same species of flower that Willow had ever successfully made grow with her magic. Amity had been with her at the time, cheering her on. But that all felt so long ago now. Amity wondered what Willow was doing now.

'Probably living her life.' Amity thought to herself. 'She and everyone else would have graduated. I'm sure they have all settled into normal jobs or something. I bet everyone has forgotten about me by now… Well, except for my family. I heard there was a big search attempt when I 'went missing' all those years ago. I still worry about my mother, doing that to her was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Same for father, and my brother and sister. But… I didn't really have a choice in all of this. When the emperor wants to take you in under his wing and train you personally, you can't refuse. Even if it means hurting the ones you love.'

"Miss Blight?" Hilda comes walking into the middle of the garden. "I don't mean to rush you, but the ceremony for the soldiers will be starting soon.

"Fine," Amity said, sighing and standing up. Together, they walked to the throne room. There were quite a few people waiting outside the doors already. Many were military personnel. As the guards open the doors it's the normal sight: nobody is here. Emperor bellows haven't held court in a long time, Amity is the one who gets shouldered with all the judicial work. She felt more like an assistant than an apprentice at times. She walked to the end of the long room and took her seat on her throne. That is the secondary, smaller throne next to Bellow's more luxurious seat. Amity thought it was stupid to even have it since he was never here to sit in it.

Amity got situated into her throne and told Hilda to bring everyone in. Hilda went to the door, and opened it wide, letting the torrent of soldiers into the room. Most of them stepped to one side of the room or the other, leaving three high-ranking soldiers in the middle, standing before Amity.

Once everyone was in their position around the room and quieted down, Hilda came up to Amity and handed her a box and a small scroll. Amity opened the box to find three silver medals with bits of fabric attached to them, big enough to loop around someone's neck. She set the box on the arm of her chair, pulled out the first medal, and stood up, ready to begin the ceremony.

"As you are all aware I will be filling in for Emperor Bellows today," Amity said in a loud voice. There was a slight murmur in the crowd. She then opened the scroll and began to read aloud.

"These three men before me are being honored for their pivotal roles in capturing a dangerous criminal. Two nights ago they were able to capture and subdue the infamous…" Amity stops for a moment as she reads the next line. "Eda the Owl Lady... For your outstanding bravery, heroism, and dedication to the Emperor, I hereby award you with this medal of valor for your service." Amity closes the scroll, takes the medal in her hands, and puts it around the first man's neck. She repeats this with the other two men. All while the room is filled with applause from those attending as witnesses.

After the applause stopped the crowd broke from its orderly groups and began to intermingle with one another, the crowd began to talk amongst themselves. Amity hated it, but she was forced to stay for at least a little bit, she knew there would be people wanting to talk to her about miscellaneous things. She ended up getting her ear talked off by one of the higher up generals of the army about how the troops have low morale and how he planned to fix that. It was a conversation that should have been happening with the Emperor himself, but Amity was his stand-in. Once the chit chat of the crowd was calming down, and people were finally dispersing, Hilda came to Amity's side and reminded her that it was almost time for her training.

With an exhausted sigh, she slipped out of the throne room and walked down the deserted halls alone. Hilda stayed behind. Amity arrived at the training hall doors and pushed them open. Inside she saw Bellows, waiting for her.

"Amity, You've arrived," Bellows said.

"Yes, sir. Just as we planned. I had to slip away from the soldier's award ceremony but I made it." Amity explained.

"Good, good," Bellows replied.

"So… last time, you said you had something special planned for today. I had just mastered animating an object. Are you going to start teaching me something even more advanced?" Amity asked, a little excited.

"No… Today is 'special'." Bellows smiled. "We aren't going to be doing any normal training today. No, today I am going to give you a gift."

"Gift?" Amity was confused, this was out of character. "What do you mean?" Amity asked.

"I'm going to give you the gift of power." Bellows continued as he began to walk to the back of the room, towards the other exit of the room. "Come."

Amity followed the Emperor out of the room and then down the corridors to the entrance to the underground dungeon. Amity was still confused and now a little nervous. Had she done something wrong? They continued into the dungeon and walked past the row of cells, filled with 'criminals'. Mostly people who broke petty laws or didn't pay taxes. The prisoners looked at Bellows and Amity with contempt as they passed.

They turned a corner and walked to the far back of the dungeon. Once they reached the end, there was nothing but a flat stone wall in front of them, and a lantern hanging overhead. To amity's right, there was an especially large cell. She peered through the bars into the dark room and saw something looking back at her, with big black eyes. It was hard to make out in the faint light, but she could tell it was big, and... furry? It was curled up in what appeared to be a giant birdhouse. It lay on a nest made of straw and sat there, watching her.

Bellows put his hand to the wall and pressed a single stone in. A secret passage revealed itself as the wall swung inwards. Amity and Bellows stepped inside. The secret room was illuminated green from a bubbling cauldron in the center of the room. Beyond that was a large stone slab. Amity entered with suspicion, she didn't know this room even existed. Bellows walked towards the cauldron and stirred it with a nearby ladle.

"Just one more thing," Bellows said, admiring the bubbling green liquid. Bellows took out a knife that was concealed in his vestments and slid his thumb across the blade. A small seam in his skin opened and a few drops of blood fell into the mixture. The cauldron roared with life and the mixture changed from green to a dark crimson red. After a few stirs, Bellows scooped up a ladle full and poured it into a nearby container. He handed it to Amity. The container was cool to the touch and very smooth. It almost felt like bone.

"Hurry, drink this," Bellows commanded. Amity looked down at the mixture and grimaced before looking back up at Bellows.

"This will give you power beyond what you have ever imagined, it is my gift to you! It is the final step of becoming my apprentice. All you have to do is drink." Bellows continued.

Amity gulped and held the 'cup' up to her lips. She hesitantly took a sip. The taste was awful. It was hot and thick, like stew right off the fire. But that was as much as she could handle. As soon as the liquid hit her stomach, a spike of pain went through her. She crumpled over and dropped the chalice. The liquid spilled across the floor, leaving a dark red puddle. Bellows quickly descended upon her and helped her walk over to the stone slab, helping her get up onto it and lie down. A migraine followed, making her dizzy, queasy, and disoriented.

Amity grabbed her head in pain, and that's when her hands began to tremble. She held her hands in front of her eyes and saw a creeping blackness slowly envelope her arms and hands. Terrified, she tried to scream out, asking what was happening to her, but her voice was caught in her throat. The last thing she remembered was the intense pain of her head, stomach, and arms all swirling together into unbearable agony.


	8. Spleenville

Luz awoke, disoriented at first. She looked around the room she was in and a moment later the memories of the past couple days came flooding back.

"Ribcage City," Luz muttered to herself.

She got up and dressed and went downstairs. She found that Gus, Laurence, and Willow were already up, talking with one another at the kitchen table. King was still asleep on the chair. Willow noticed Luz coming off the creaky stairs and gave her a wave.

"Come. Sit with us." Willow said.

At this point, Laurence and Gus both looked in Luz's direction. Luz came to the table and pulled out the last chair and sat down.

"What's everybody doing up so early?" Luz asked.

"We were just talking about the path we are going to have to take today," Gus said.

"What about it?" Luz asked.

"Ribcage City is about three days from here on foot. And the road there passes through another town." Gus explained

"Okay, what's the town? Any that you guys have been to before?"

"Spleenville," Laurence answered. "I've been once or twice, it's just your basic small town. However… the last time I was there, it looked like they were setting a new Emperor's Coven encampment there.

"Why would they set up way out here, in a small town?" Luz asked.

"Not sure, something about increased crime rates centered around the town I think." Laurence shrugged.

"Hmm…" Gus rubbed his chin. "Could we just avoid the town?"

"Yeah, I guess. If you want to kill an extra three days. The town is in a valley between two mountains, going around the mountains to avoid the town would make the trip twice as long to Ribcage City."

"We don't have that kind of time!" Luz said.

"I know…" Gus said grimly. He sighed then continued. "So I guess we are just going to have to try our luck going through the town then?"

"Sounds like it." Willow cut in.

"Well, we are already burning daylight. Is everyone ready to go?" Gus said, starting to stand up from the table.

"Hold your horses, you guys haven't even had breakfast yet. At least let me feed you." Laurence smiled before getting up and going to his cupboard and pulling out a bag. He went over to the opposite wall of the kitchen and picked up a black cauldron. He then proceeded to cook up a meager, but tasty breakfast for the whole crew. They woke King up to eat, and he did so with gusto.

"So… how do we get to Spleenville?" Luz asked as everyone was gathered around the table, eating.

"Oh, there is an old path between here and there. It should be hard to get lost." Laurence told her.

"Okay… what about after that, how are we getting to Ribcage City from there?" Luz continued.

"Just follow the lights. You can see them from miles away." King grunted, licking his lips.

"Alright, we will let you lead, King." Luz smiled.

The group packed up their things after breakfast, making sure they had all the supplies they needed to be on the road for another few days.

"Oh wait, before you go." Laurence also stands up. "Leave town through the north entrance, there is a small stable there where you can buy passage to Spleenville. If you do that, you'll get there in a day, compared to two if you walked on foot."

"Thanks, Laurence," Gus says, nodding at him. "You've helped us out."

"Yeah, well… Don't get used to it. We are even now, you hear?" Laurence said back.

Gus nodded and started to walk towards the door. The group all filed out of Laurence's house and onto the small, deserted street. It was still early morning, the sun was just cresting over the horizon and the buildings cast a shadow all over the streets of the town. Not even the merchants at the market had come out yet to set up their shops.

"Goodbye, Laurence. Thank you for everything you've done for us." Luz said.

"Goodbye." Willow waved.

"Don't go and get yourselves killed…" Laurence warns them as they start to set out into the city.

The group quickly made their way through the sparsely populated city. Most everybody was still asleep. They passed the tavern King had wanted to check out, then they passed through the empty market and headed towards the north gate. They saw the small stables come into view as they neared the exit to the city. Upon arriving at it. They saw a bored-looking man whittling a piece of wood into what looked like a horse. He perked up when he glazed up and saw them coming towards him. Next to the man was a large carriage, big enough to fit several people.

"Well, Hello there!" The man greeted them heartily.

"Hello." Willow was the first to engage, giving a small wave.

"Well, it looks like you folks are headed out of town. Where are you headed, Bonesborough, the Capitol, Ribcage City, perhaps?" He smiles at the last one.

"Ribcage City, yeah. How did you know?" Luz asked.

"I get plenty of travelers heading to Ribcage City through Spleenville." And I can get them there in just a day, much faster than walking!" He proclaims.

"So you can take us to Ribcage City?" Luz asked.

"Haha, no. I only go as far as Spleenville," he said.

"Why is that?" Luz asked.

"The monsters." King cut in.

"Monsters?" Luz questioned.

"Ribcage City is in a desert, filled with monsters," King explained.

"Right-o, furry man." The carriage driver said. "And I don't want to be attacked so I stop at Spleenville."

"Oh… then how is the city still intact if it's surrounded by monsters?" Luz asked.

"Ancient magical wards that keep them out," King said flatly.

"And… You never had trouble getting in?" Willow shyly asked.

"What? No! Of course not. I'm a demon, not a monster. Completely different. What, do we all _look_ the same to you?!" King announced an accusation in his voice.

"What, no! I-" Willow tripped on her words.

King huffs and turns back to the carriage driver.

"Alright, so how much is this gonna cost?" King asked.

"Hmmm… four passengers to Spleenville, that'll be forty."

Luz reached for her coin purse, feeling how it no longer had the heft it once did.

"Alright, fine. Luz, pay the man." King instructs.

Luz begrudgingly counts out another forty coins and hands them over.

"Thank you." The man says with a smile. "Alright, if everyone is ready to go we can leave in just a couple minutes."

The group looked to each other for confirmation and shared a mutual nod. The man then went into the stables and came out with the handle of a leash. Behind him crawled a massive beetle-like creature, a collar around its neck. He led the creature to the front of the carriage and strapped it in, putting a bridle in its mouth and strapping its sides to the carriage.

"Alright, everyone hops in, we will be at Spleenville before the sun is down." The man said as he climbed up into the carriage's driver's seat.

The group all crammed into the carriage, it was a bit of a tight fit with King's massive arms taking up so much space, but it was better than walking for two days straight and sleeping outside.

The next few hours the group talked amongst themselves, going over battle plans for how to break out Eda if she was being held in that maximum-security prison in the capitol. They talked a little bit more about Laurence and how well that went over. They talked about their plans to travel through the monster-infested desert, coming up with not much as for how they were going to traverse it without getting attacked.

While Gus was staring out the window during the trip he noticed a black crow flying above the cart, off the side of the road, keeping pace with them.

The trip was mostly uneventful beyond that, with them stopping for a bathroom break every few hours. Allowing them to stretch their legs.

As the sun was starting to set, Spleenville came into view. The group let out a collective relieved sight that their trip was almost over. The carriage came up to a similar set of stables outside the gate into Spleenville and the driver got off and opened up the carriage door.

"Welcome to Spleenville, everyone. It was a pleasure doing business with ya." The driver gave a little bow.

Everyone got out and looked past the gate into town, it was smaller than NorthHaven had been. However, it still had the normal commodities of any town around the boiling isles. They arrived in the late afternoon, they could hear a nearby tavern's roar of a rowdy crowd before even setting foot in the town proper.

"Thanks," Willow said to the driver as he began to unhook his beetle and led it into the stables for the night.

"You're welcome, enjoy your stay." He said back to her as he disappeared into the stables.

"Alright, we should probably head to the inn and find someplace to sleep for the night, then we need to figure out how we are going to get across the desert without getting attacked," Gus said, turning back to the group.

"Can't we… ya know, explore the town a little bit?" King said, the sounds of the tavern already giving him ulterior motives.

"King, this place has an Emperor's Coven outpost. If Luz gets caught we will have an even bigger problem on our hands than monsters in the desert. We should probably go to the tavern, talk to no one, and leave as soon as we can so we don't raise any suspicion." Gus scolded him.

"Uhhg, you guys are going to be like even at Ribcage City? You're no fun." King complained.

With Gus in the lead, the group ventured into the city, sure to keep their heads down and Luz's face covered by her hat. They were quickly able to find an inn called The Leaky Goat. They went inside and to everyone's surprise, behind the register, was a floating monster with a giant eyeball that comprised almost its entire body. It has several other eye stalks extending from its body. The creature also wore a green visor over his giant eye and a small apron wrapped around the lower part of his bulbous body. All the eyes turned towards the group as they entered.

"Oh, hello there. Welcome to The Leaky Goat." The monster said in a happy, chipper voice.

The group was too stunned at the sight to react at first. It was Luz who finally said something.

"Hello, we were looking to stay the night?" Luz asked.

"Oh sure, how many rooms do you want?" The monster asked.

"H-how many do you have?" Gus asked.

"We have six available. All rooms have two beds." The monster told them.

"We will take two, then," Gus answered.

"Okay, here you go. That'll be twenty gold." The monster told them, bringing out two keys from under the desk.

Luz once again reached for her coin purse. This was going to wipe her out, after this she would barely have enough money left to buy a meal. With a sigh, she forked over the money. The monster happily picked it up and dropped it into a coin purse of his own.

"Your rooms are just down the hall, across from each other." The monster pointed with an eyestalk.

"Thanks…" Luz said glumly, mourning her newfound poverty.

The group picked up the keys and found their rooms. King and Gus decided to bunk together while the girls would get the other room. They said their goodnights and parted ways. Once inside their room, the girls quickly nested down, each picking a bed. Sitting on their opposing beds the girls talked for a bit. Willow was reassuring as ever, telling Luz they were going to get Eda back and everything was going to be fine.

"Oh hey, by the way," Willow said. "About the desert full of monsters that we are supposed to be crossing tomorrow?"

"Yeah?" Luz asked.

"I think I might have a solution for that. There is an old monster repellent made out of a couple of common plants. We would have to go to the market in the morning and try to find the ingredients, though." Willow said.

"Oh, Well that's great. I would rather not have to fight my way through a desert." Luz said, slightly relieved.

"It's nothing for sure, but it might help us not have to fight," Willow said.

"Sounds good." Luz yawned before laying back on her bed.

"Alright, we have a big day tomorrow, better get some sleep." Willow smiled.

They clicked out the light in the room and went to bed. It took Luz a little longer to get to sleep than normal because she was still plagued with the creeping feeling that they weren't' getting to Eda fast enough.


	9. The Desert

Luz awoke, once again in a strange place, she didn't recognize. This was the third or fourth time now in the past couple of days she has had this experience. Luz turned her head to see Willow still asleep. She quietly got up from the bed and got dressed. She quietly grabbed the room key and exited her room making sure to not wake Willow. In the hallway, she saw no one around besides the clerk. It's still the floating eyeball monster sitting there idly reading a newspaper.

'Maybe he doesn't need sleep?' Luz thought to herself.

Luz walked over to King and Gus's room and put her ear to the door. She could hear the faint sound of two voices talking. Luz knocked on the door. A moment later King opened the door.

"You're up early," King said, surprised to find Luz at his door.

"I could say the same to you two," Luz said.

King let her inside and she saw Gus sitting on the foot of his bed. King hopped onto his bed. That left the armchair open for Luz to sit down in. She took the seat before continuing the conversation.

"So, what's up?" Luz asked. "I heard you guys talking before I knocked."

"Oh, well we were just trying to come up with ideas about how to cross the desert," Gus answered.

"Haha, Willow already came up with an idea last night. She said there is some old natural monster repellent she can make out of some plants. We were going to go to the market today to see if we can find the stuff we need to make it." Luz explained.

"Oh, that's way better than either of our plans," Gus said, relieved.

"Why? What were your plans?" Luz asked.

"The best things we came up with were: one, I make everyone invisible the entire trip to Ribcage City. or two, just fight our way through." Gus said with a sigh.

"That sounds… kinda dumb." Luz said.

"I know, I doubt I could keep up such a high-level magic spell on all of us for so long anyway, and if we end up getting into multiple fights out there I can't imagine we will get far," Gus said.

"Well, luckily you won't have to," Luz said with a smirk.

"Well, the sun's starting to come up, the market should be opening soon, let's go get Willow up and maybe we can get a jump on our trip. It would be best to make our journey as much during the morning as possible since it's going to get so much hotter closer to midday." Gus said, peeking out the window.

"How do you know it's going to get hotter?" Luz asked.

"It's not a desert for no reason, Luz," Gus said.

"Alright, well let's get Willow up and we can head out," Luz said.

"Yeah, get her up, pop into the tavern for a quick drink, then we can head out." King corrected.

Luz gave King a stern look.

"What?" King asked, indignant.

"We aren't here to party." Luz scolded him.

"If we were we would have gone out last night like I wanted and had a little fun." King retorted.

"You know we can't risk it." Gus slid in.

King huffed and crossed his massive arms.

"Let's go get Willow," Luz said.

The three of them left the room. King and Gus waited in the hallway while Luz knocked before entering the other room. She quickly woke up Willow and told her it was time to leave. Willow got dressed for the day and they all reconvened in the hallway. On the way out of the small Inn, they handed the monster the two keys back.

Out on the street of Spleenville, they were able to quickly figure out where the market was and head that way. Once they arrived at the market no one but Willow knew what they were looking for, so everyone just followed Willow's lead. They eventually came upon a herbalist stand. She was selling potions mostly but also had some raw ingredients on sale.

"Hello, mam," Willow said to the old woman behind the stand.

The old woman turned around from fiddling with something in a bag.

"Oh, hello dearie." The old woman crooned. Her face was wrinkled, and her white hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head. She smiled at the group, and Luz could make out her unexpectedly sharp teeth.

"Hi, I was wondering do you have juniper berries, flux seed, and blood daisies?" Willow asked.

"Oh, now what would a nice young girl like you need with blood daisies?" The old woman smiled again.

"Well… we are crossing the desert and heading to Ribcage City." Willow said.

"Oh, my! It sounds like you are trying to make some monster repellent." The old crone said.

"That's...right?" Willow said, unsure.

"Hmm… well, I do have the ingredients, but they won't come cheap. These are the last of my blood daisies." The old woman said.

"How much?" Willow asked, afraid of the answer. Luz began to pull out her coin purse.

"No money, I have no use for such things." The old woman stuck her nose up.

"Then… what do you want?" Willow asked.

At this, the crone got a glint in her eye as she smiled.

"Nothing much… just a little… blood." She said.

"Blood?" Willow asked, pulling back from the stand.

"Yes, dearie, just a little prick on the finger is enough." She said as she reached into her hair and pulled a sharp bobby pin from it. Her hair fell around her face with the bobby pin no longer holding it in place.

Willow looked at the rest of the group. Who unanimously shrugged.

'Well… we do need this repellent.' Willow thought to herself. She didn't like the idea of giving this hag blood. Who knows what she would do with it, but it looked like she didn't have much of an option. This was the only plant-based stand she could find in the market, no one else would have exactly what she needed. Even if there was someone else, they would probably want more for the flowers than the group had to spend.

"Okay…" Willow held out her hand, with one finger extended.

The hag quickly snatched up Willow's wrist in her bony fingers and stabbed Willow in the finger with the pin. She cackled as she collected Willow's blood in a glass vial.

"Pleasure doing business with ya." The crone smiled before pulling out the berries, seed, and flowers needed to make the repellent.

Willow scooped up the ingredients and quickly got away from the stand, the rest following in tow.

"That was weird," Gus said.

"I know," Luz added.

"Uhg, I don't even want to think what she is going to do with it…" Willow said, disgusted. "But we have the stuff we need, I'll quickly mix up the repellent when we get to the edge of town and then we can be on our way.

The group set off to the north entrance of town. They passed through a residential area, getting some looks from the locals, but no harassment. They got to the edge of town where they could see in the distance, a large desert. The guards for this entrance seem to be double what they were for the south entrance when they came into town. Probably because of the town's proximity to the monster-infested desert.

One of the guards stopped them before they left and asked where they were going. In a quick discussion they told him and got a warning that the desert is dangerous, they should go around it if possible. Once it was clear they didn't have the time to do that the guards wished them luck in their 'suicide mission'.

They walked towards the desert for about an hour before the green grass started to turn into coarse sand.

"Alright, time to put on the repellent," Willow said, taking the ingredients out of her bag.

"But we haven't even seen any monster yet," King complained.

"And hopefully it stays that way. But what if we get ambushed by a monster? You think they are going to wait for us to put on the repellent then?" Willow said back.

Willow poured all the ingredients into a mortar and pestle and ground them all together into a paste. She picked up her concoction and walked over to each member of the group, smearing the paste on the back of their necks.

"This stuff reeks," King complained.

"I know, but most monsters have a good sense of smell so it smells even worse for them," Willow explained. "This should keep us safe until we reach Ribcage City."

"Thanks, Willow, what would we do without you?" Luz asked, smiling.

The group kept walking, the early morning sun was slowly warming the desert, they set off into the desert when it was a comfortable temperature, much like what you would feel mid-spring.

Another couple hours of walking, when the buildings of Spleenville were all behind the horizon, the temperature had skyrocketed to that of a hot summer day. And it wasn't even noon yet. Despite the profuse sweating by everyone, the trip wasn't exactly dangerous. They had only seen one monster their entire journey so far, and when they got even remotely close to it, it ran away from them and burrowed into the ground.

The group tried to stay hydrated drinking their waterskins, but the reserves of water were quickly running out.

"Why don't we stop and take a break?" King asked, panting like a dog.

"We need to get to Ribcage City by dark. Once the sun goes down this place will get cold. I mean cold, like below freezing." Gus explained.

"I might welcome that by now." King quipped.

And that is when it happened. King saw it out of the corner of his eye a split second before anyone else. It looked like nothing, in particular, just a dune on the side of the road with a horn of a long-dead animal sticking up through the sand.

Just as the group was walking past the inconspicuous mound of sand, it exploded. In a flash, sand was thrown into the air and King was grabbed in a set of vicious jaws. Luz shielded her eyes the best she could and looked at what was happening only to see the dire sight of a beige three-headed hydra crawling up from the exploded dune where it had been hiding. King was dangling from the left-most head's mouth.

Not panicking, Luz reached for her spellbook, and started to flip through pages. Willow tried to restrain the beast with some nearby roots but found the foliage in the area lacking. Gus immediately made mirror images of himself. Three copies of Gus stood around him, mimicking his movements.

Luz was cut short in her search for something to help the situation. When the hydra's middle head looked at her and took a deep inhale in. Luz knew what was about to come. She reached down and grabbed one of her scrolls, opened it up, and quickly pressed the rune inscribed on it. In the next moment, the hydra breathed fire all over Luz.

"Luz!" Gus and Willow screamed in unison.

As the hydra ran out of breath and ceased its fiery onslaught, the fire cleared away to reveal Luz crouched down in the center of the flames, untouched.

The hydra's right head was going after Willow, snapping at her, trying to get her in its jaws just like King was. Willow was having her hands full just dodging the beast while being just about useless in this plantless barren wasteland terrain.

The middle head continued its assault on Luz, trying to bite at her, but finding a shell of force surrounding her. The beast tried to rip into Luz, but couldn't get its fangs through the invisible force that was protecting her. This gave time for Luz to quickly flip through her book and try one of her seldomly used offensive spells.

She found the one she wanted to try and hit it. The paper crumpled into the shape of an arrow, then turned a sickly green color. Luz grabbed the greenish paper and pulled it back as if aiming a bow and released the spell at the hydra. The spell whizzed through the air and in mid-air the paper transformed into acid. The acid arrow splashed onto the hydra's scales. The scales burned and sizzled as the acid seeped under them to the hydra's flesh. The hydra shrieked in pain at this, but it looked more angry than ready to admit defeat.

King did all he could, dangling from the jaws of one of the heads. His arm trapped and being bit into while he other was free. He just started punching the hydra in the face, trying to get it in the eye as much as he could to free himself but not having much luck.

Gus stood behind the group as they all contended with their head. He was scared, unsure of what to do. He wasn't a fighter. Then a thought came to him. Something that would probably save the group instantly if he could pull it off. He tried to calm himself, putting his hands together and rubbing them. His palms turned blue as magic coursed through him. Gus began the long incantation as he started to draw a circle into the air very slowly.

Luz took another spell out of her book, tapping the rune that corresponded to it. When she tapped it, the paper crumpled into a ball and floated magically under Luz's palm. Luz brought the arm with the floating spell to her side, then flung it out towards the hydra. The spell activated and a gigantic cone of freezing air, ice, and snow buffeted the hydra. Immediately, the scales and flesh of the hydra started freezing over.

Hydra once again howled in angry pain. But after a moment, it shrugged the attack off, shaking the ice from its body. It looked down at Luz with murderous intent.

"Any ideas, Gus?" Luz shouted over her shoulder.

"Yeah, one second. I almost got it…" Gus said, intensely focusing on his spell, sweat dripping down his face.

Gus released his spell on the hydra. The hydra's eyes glossed over with a purplish color. It immediately dropped King and started looking around wildly.

King scrambled back to the group and looked back at the hydra. It seemed the fight had just stopped all of a sudden.

"What… Did you do?" King asked, rubbing his arm where the hydra had bit him.

"Hallucination spell." Gus breathed heavily, he was still staring at the hydra not letting his concentration break. "It thinks it's on a little ice island out in the middle of a frozen sea."

The hydra looked around frantically. It tried to back up then yelped and it lost its footing, it spun around in place, before coiling up and laying down, shivering despite the blistering sun.

"Geeze…" King said

"Yeah, I didn't know you could do that…" Luz said.

"Can we go now? I don't know how long I can keep this up…" Gus said, straining.

The group quickly hurries on their way. Gus only drops the concentration once the hydra is well out of sight. They encounter no other monsters during the day, and by the time the sun is starting to set they can see Ribcage City in the distance. They passed into the city as soon as night had fallen, barely getting in before the town guard shut the gates.

Thankful to finally be out of the desert the group went looking for Lilith's house. It took a bit of time, but with the help of a friendly patrolling guard who gave them directions, they are able to find the street Lilith lives on, and then her house. They stood on her doorstep with shared nervousness. Their story was a lot to take in. They didn't know how Lilith would respond to it.

Luz tentatively knocked on the door.

Elsewhere the scene of the group picking themselves up and hurrying off with the monster incapacitated is shown on a pedestal that resembled a birdbath, filled with water. Above the pedestal looms the Emperor, gazing into the water.

"It seems that my pet was not enough to stop them." The emperor said in a neutral voice. There was a long pause. Then a wicked grin spread across his wrinkled face. "Excellent."

The emperor turned towards his right, revealing four black-cloaked figures wearing black stained studded leather armor. The figures stood at attention, awaiting orders.

"They are in Ribcage City. Bring me the human. Kill the rest." The Emperor commanded with a flick of his wrist.

"Yes, my lord." The lead figure put his fist to his chest and did a small bow before turning to his left and heading for the door. The other figures follow suit and follow their leader out of the small dark chamber.


	10. Lilith

Luz, King, Gus, and Willow all stood on the doorstep of the house that was said to be Lilith Clawthorne's. Luz knocked on the door, afraid of what might happen next. There was silence for a few moments, and then Luz could hear a lock being turned on the other side of the door. The door cracked open and Luz could see a woman peering out. The woman had dark hair with a white streak running down the right side of her face. The woman had bags under her eyes, she looked younger than Luz expected her to be, comparing her to Eda. But the eyes of the woman said she had wisdom beyond her years.

"Yes?" The woman asked from behind the door, her eyes darting between all the members of the group.

"Umm, we are looking for Lilith Clawthorne. Does she live here?" Luz started.

The woman's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed at the group.

"And who are you?" The woman asked, mild accusation in her voice.

"I am Luz, this is Gus, King, and Willow," Luz said, motioning to her friends.

The woman goes quiet for a moment.

"Luz, huh? I feel like I've seen you before…" She ponders, squinting at Luz.

"Yeah, we met some years ago at the Coven convention. I ended up dueling your student at the time-" Luz began to tell the story.

"Wait, I recognize that outfit, you are 'The Witch of the Scroll"!" Lilith exclaimed, interrupting Luz.

"Shh, not so loud," Luz said, hunching her shoulders and looking from side to side.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" The woman asked, taken aback.

"We need your help," Luz said.

"Why would I help you? I should be shouting for the guards right now!" The woman said, beginning to close the door.

"Eda's gone!" Luz nearly shouted.

The door stopped. The woman, Lilith, looked shocked. She opened the door, wider than before.

"What did you say?" Lilith asked.

"Eda was taken. Kidnapped, by the Emperor's Coven!" Luz said, desperate to get through to Lilith.

Lilith opens the door some more, eyes the group suspiciously. Lilith takes a glace up and down the street.

"Get in here," Lilith said as she ushered them inside.

Inside, there was a living room, with a dining room and kitchen off to the side of the house. The living room was fairly large and had one cozy-looking armchair sitting in front of a fireplace. Lilith got them all inside then quickly closed and locked the door behind them. She then turned to the group.

"Now what is this you are talking about Eda being kidnapped?" Lilith asked suspiciously.

"Uh-" Luz looked up at the ceiling trying to recount everything that happened these past few days.

"It's a long story…" Gus cut in.

Lilith's eyes darted between the members of the group.

"Sit down then. And tell me everything." Lilith said, swirling her finger in the air casually summoning several chairs in a semicircle around the fireplace. They all together took their chairs, with Lilith sitting at the head of the semicircle, looking fiercely at the group, concern growing on her face.

"It all started just a few days ago…" Luz began. Luz told the events to Lilith as they happened up to that point. Pulling out the Emperor's Coven sigil as well as Eda's staff when appropriate.

"I… see." Lilith finally said. She sat back in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. She stared off into nothingness ahead of her, deep in thought.

"It's quite the story, I'm surprised you kids got this far. And you said you were Eda's apprentice, right?" Lilith turned towards Luz.

"Mmhm." Luz nodded.

"Of course my sister's apprentice would be a wanted criminal…" Lilith pinches the bridge of her nose. "But, you look familiar, and not just from the wanted posters."

"Yeah, like I tried to tell you we met some years ago at the Coven Convention. I dueled Amity Blight, your student..." Luz tried to jog her memory.

"Ah yes, the duel that my sister cheated at." Lilith frowned.

"Right… So, um, we came here because we hoped you could help us." Luz said, finally getting to the main reason for the visit.

Lilith looked a bit surprised. "I- I don't know what you want me to do about it. I'm not apart of the Emperor's Coven anymore. I don't have the power to release a prisoner. I love my sister, but I knew this would happen eventually…" Lilith sighed.

"Laurence didn't know where she would be being held, but he seemed to think you would know…" Luz prodded.

"Well, yeah. If she was taken by The Black Hand then she's in the capital, in the castle." Lilith said offhandedly. After a moment she looked over at the group and found their eyes full of hope and determination.

"What, you think you are going to go break her out of prison?" Lilith scoffed. "That's impossible on so many levels. Don't even think about it." She pointed her finger at the group.

"We can't just do nothing." Willow chimed in.

"All you kids would get is an early death. Maybe imprisoned, if you are lucky." Lilith said coldly.

"So what, Eda gets captured and you are going to do nothing to help her?" King said in a challenging tone.

"There is nothing to do!" Lilith turns towards King with subtle fury. "That place is a fortress, it's armed to the teeth with guards, the entire building has an anti-magic field around it, and the walls are several feet thick!"

After Lilith finishes talking, she looks deep in thought again for a moment, as if realizing something.

"Unless…" Lilith mumbles to herself. She then quickly shakes her head. "No, that would be impossible."

"Unless what?" Willow asked.

"Nothing, You kids should go home before you get into any more trouble," Lilith said.

"Lilith," Luz said, getting out of her seat and grabbing Lilith's hand. She knelt in front of Lilith's chair. Lilith looked deep into Luz's eyes. She could see Luz's fiery passion. "We have to get Eda back, no matter what."

Lilith sighed deeply.

"What was your plan?" Luz asked.

"I don't- It's not a plan. I just thought that if you could turn off the anti-magic field then you could just teleport in, and teleport out. But that's impossible. That field is ancient magic, set up by our ancestors no one even knows how to turn it off." Lilith confessed.

"But… If we could find a way, then we could break Eda out?" Luz asked.

"I suppose, theoretically…But it's a suicide mission!"

Luz looked back to the rest of her group and they mutually exchanged nods.

"You kids can't be serious…" Lilith said.

"We are." Gus piped up.

"You're throwing your lives away…" Lilith warned.

"Thank you, Lilith, for everything you have told us. But I think it's time we go." Luz said.

"Uh… Wait, why don't you kids stay the night and we can talk more about this in the morning?" Lilith suggested.

"Thanks, but I think it would be better if we left. Come on, guys." Luz said as she walked towards the door.

The group all turned away from Lilith as they got up from their chairs and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Lilith exclaimed. The group all turned back towards her. She was standing there, looking down at the floor, trembling slightly. "I can't just let you go in without a plan. Let me- Let me help you." Lilith said, her voice now shaky.

"Help how?" Gus asked.

"The anti-magic field… I'm not one-hundred percent sure how it works, and I don't know if this would work or not, but you might be able to sneak inside the building if you were wearing invisibility cloaks. I mean cloaks with permanent invisibility, a temporary spell wouldn't work."

"Why wouldn't the anti-magic field work on those, and just turn off the invisibility?" Willow asked.

"I'm not sure that it wouldn't. However, one of the few times I was in the building I distinctly remember one of the higher-ups there walking around with a staff that had a permanent light spell placed upon it. And it seemed the anti-magic field didn't dispel the light. So my thinking is that if you bring an enchanted item into the field It will still be enchanted. Maybe… Maybe the anti-magic only works on new, or weaker spells." Lilith explained.

"I see, so if we were able to get our hands on cloaks of invisibility, we could use them to sneak into the building, grab Eda, and then sneak out. And because they are enchanted, the anti-magic field wouldn't make us visible." Gus summarized.

"It's only a theory, I have no guarantee it would work," Lilith warned.

"Do you have any idea where we could get these cloaks?" Willow asked. "Enchanted items are pretty rare."

"Well, I have one…" Lilith admitted.

"You do?!" Luz exclaimed.

"Yes, from back in my days working in the Emperor's Coven. It was for… Nevermind, that doesn't matter." Lilith continued.

"But that's only one…" King said.

"Right, You all will have to retrieve the rest yourselves. I doubt you can find more than one more in town. Your best bet would be to check Clara's magic shop in the morning. It is over by the market." Lilith said.

"Thank you, Lilith. For the information." Luz said, smiling.

"Okay, we have a plan then. We will hit up that store in the morning, see if we can't find at least one more cloak, and then we can head off to the capitol." Gus said in confirmation.

"As I said, there is no guarantee that she has one, some of you might have to stay behind on this rescue mission," Lilith said.

"It would probably be for the best. A larger group is more likely to draw attention." Gus said.

"Thanks again, Lilith," Luz said, before turning to face back towards the door. "But we wouldn't want to impose. We will sleep at an inn tonight."

"Are you sure?" Lilith asked.

"Mmhm." Luz hummed. She reached for the doorknob turned it, opening the front door back out inside the dark streets.

Willow, King, and Gus all followed her outside. Turning back once they were all back on her doorstep. Lilith came to the door but stopped before setting foot outside.

"Well… good luck, in rescuing my sister…" Lilith said, a tone of sadness in her voice.

"We will do our best," Willow said

"We won't fail no matter what," Luz said.

The group waved goodbye to Lilith and headed back towards the center of town. They were quickly able to locate an inn and spend what little money they had left to rent a room for the night.

The group entered the singular room together and Luz immediately claimed one of the beds.

"I can make my own," Gus said.

"I'm fine with a comfy chair," King said as he walked over to an armchair sitting in the corner of the room. Leaving Willow the last bed.

It was cramped, but they were all able to settle in and get a good night's rest. Ready to tackle tomorrow and any challenges that may present themselves.


	11. The Cave

The gang woke up more or less at the same time, as the sun was just starting to peek through their window in the inn. Everyone got up, got dressed, and ready for the full day of traveling they had ahead of them.

"What do you guys want to do for breakfast?" King asked as everyone was getting ready.

"We are basically broke. But we still have some food leftover from BonesBorough. We will just have to eat that." Luz said, fixing her hat squarely on her head.

The group ate a cold breakfast with dissatisfaction in the room before heading out, giving the room key back to the innkeeper and heading back out into the city.

The group headed to the market, intent on finding the magic shop that Lillith had mentioned. They came upon the big ring of stalls, with merchants still setting up their wares. After a bit of searching, they found a building on the outside of the ring with a sign out over the door that read 'Clara's Curiosities'.

"This must be the place," Gus said, walking up to the door.

"Yeah, let's just hope she has what we need," Willow said.

Gus was the first one in, opening the door and noticing the little bell that rang as he did. Inside was a dimly lit shop, the walls lined with all manner of arcane trinkets and baubles. Some Luz recognized, and many she didn't. There was a barrel full of scrolls on a corner of the shop, along with a clothes rack in the opposite corner. Right next to the door, was a counter and behind it was a young woman with red hair and spectacles.

"Well, hello there. My name's Clara and this is my shop." She said to Gus as he walked in. He moved out of the way, letting in the other three members of his group. "My, What do I have the pleasure of having so many customers so early in the morning?"

"Hi. We are actually looking for something specific." Luz began once she was in the door.

"And what would that be?" Clara asked.

"Well… A cloak of invisibility?" Luz asked, hoping for the best.

"Oh, why would you want something like that? You aren't planning on something illegal, are you?" Clara scrunched her eyes at Luz.

"Wha- Haha, no of course not. It's for…" Luz looked over to the rest of her group.

"The desert! Our friend here needs to cross the desert and we heard that it's filled with monsters. So we were hoping we could get him a cloak of invisibility to sneak past all the dangers." Willow chimed in, grabbing a hold of Gus's arm, presenting him as the 'friend'.

"Uh, yeah. That's right. I was looking for a way to get across the desert unharmed." Gus said.

"Then you should just buy an escort across the desert," Clara said, crossing her arms.

"Uh, we don't have that much money…" Gus said, looking down to the ground.

"But you have enough to buy a cloak of invisibility?" Clara was getting suspicious.

"Look, do you have it or not?" King finally cut in, losing his patience.

Clara chewed her words for a moment, thinking before saying, "Yes… But if you can't afford an escort across the desert, you can't afford a magic item of that rarity."

"Wait, we really need that cloak…" Luz said, starting to get desperate. "What if… What if we trade for it?"

"Trade?" Clara's eyes widened, her brow arching. "Trade what?"

"Uh… This is a magic shop, right? Well, what if we trade you some new magic for it?" Luz suggested.

"And what exactly do you mean by that? As you can see I'm quite well stocked in magic items of all kinds." Clara gestured around the room.

"Well, I bet you have never seen magic like this," Luz said, pulling out her spellbook. She flipped to one of the first pages, to a light spell ready to be pressed. "I have a form of magic that lets me pre-prepare spells and then cast them instantly at a simple touch. Luz pressed the symbol for the light spell and watched as the page crumpled up and turned into a ball of light.

"I see, like spell Scrolls," Clara said, looking at the ball of light.

"Kind of. However, with this method you don't need to infuse the magic into the paper, the symbol is enough." Luz tried to explain. "How about this, I can share with you some spells from my spellbook, show you how to do this kind of magic, and then you can replicate the symbols as much as you want and sell them as single-use spells?"

"Hmmm…. So using this technique, I don't need to know how to cast the spell for the rune that is associated with it? The work is already done for me?" Clara asked, intrigued.

"Well… You do need to know how to cast the spell, or at least, what the spell's effect is. If you have no idea what the spell will do, and you try to cast it, the spell will fail like any other spell. The benefit of this technique is that you can instantly cast spells that normally take a long time to cast. So, for example. Do you know how the spell to repair something that is broken takes a couple of minutes? Well, if you have the rune for that spell and use my technique, the casting is instant. So if you have a spell that takes an hour to cast and you use the rune instead it's much faster. The only drawback is the spell consumes energy on whatever it is drawn on, meaning if you drew it on a wall or the floor you would end up tearing a hole in a wall or making a hole in the ground." Luz tried to explain as clearly and quickly as she could.

"I see… Okay, I will have you show me the runes for spells with long casting times, and I can replicate those onto scrolls and start selling them. I will trade you the cloak for, let's say, five spells?" Clara offered.

"Deal," Luz said with a smile.

So, the group waited, looking around the shop for the next half an hour as Luz showed Clara the ins and outs of crafting spell scrolls with her magic system. Luz showed Clara five spells, as promised and at the end of it Clara had five spell scrolls that could be replicated and sold in her shop. Looking pleased, Clara went to the clothes rack in the corner of the shop and started looking through clothes. After a minute or two of searching, she grabbed something and pulled it off the rack.

"Here it is." Clara declared. She held up what appeared to be nothing. It was only upon closer inspection that Luz could make out a slight shimmer to the material that was being held up. Clara went ahead and demonstrated, throwing the cloak over her shoulders, and to everyone's amazement, her entire body disappeared. All that remained was her head, seemingly floating in mid-air.

"And then you just do this." Clara reached an arm out of the front of the cloak, her arm became visible once again as it grasped at an unseen hood for the cloak. She found it and threw the hood over her head. Clara's head disappeared, and soon after her arm did as well.

"Wow," Gus said.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Clara asked, her disembodied voice coming from in front of the group.

"Yes, very cool. This will help us a bunch." Luz said.

Clara removed her hood and her head popped back into existence. Then she reached out and took the cloak off., holding it in her arms.

"Now, don't go losing it. It'll be near impossible to find if you misplace it." Clara warned as she handed the cloak over to Gus.

"We'll be careful," Gus assured her.

"So, are we ready to go?" King asked impatiently.

"Yeah, I think so," Willow answered.

"Thanks for shopping, I hope to see you around again sometime," Clara said as she went back behind the counter.

"Thank you," Luz said as she started to make her way to the door.

"Uh-huh, bye now," Clara said, looking over one of the spell scrolls Luz had made for her.

Leaving the shop, the group found themselves still in the early morning light of the new day. The merchants around the trade district had all but finished setting up shop for the day. It was about time to start their journey.

They made their way to the north end of town, the opposite side of the desert. Leaving the city gate, they could see a fairly familiar sight ahead of them. It looked not too different from the road they had been traveling on when they were going to go see Laurence. However, the path seemed to wind through large hills and mountains far up ahead. They knew that on the other side though, was the capitol, their destination.

The group set off, even though they were low on food they had just enough to last until the capitol, they could figure it out from there. Several hours passed uneventfully. They took a break or two to rest their feet but not for more than twenty minutes or so before they were back on the trail.

Much like the trail, they followed to get to Laurence, they were passed by merchants, traders, farmers, etc. The occasional patrol flew overhead, always sending Luz into a bit of a panic, hoping they couldn't recognize her from up there.

The group began their ascent into the mountains as the path wound up and around them. It got noticeably more windy as their elevation rose. The path at some points had eroded, leaving only a path wide enough for two people to cross at a time. They hadn't seen many other travelers on this path, but for whatever reason, the mountains seemed to be teeming with life. The flora was overwhelming once you got off the path. Very tall grasses, weeds, flowers, and exotic plants grew all over the mountain and hillside. There were even goat-like creatures with two sets of horns and four eyes that scaled the rocky cliffs of the mountain and 'bahh'ed at the group as they passed.

After some time in the mountain, the group came to a tunnel cut through the mountain to the other side. Standing at one end you could make out a small ring of light on the other side. However, the cave had no lightning and no one could see in for more than forty feet or so.

"Have no fear." Gus proclaimed, stepping forward. "Being an illusionist means that simple light tricks are child's play for me."

Gus quickly did a large circle in the air and from the spell, a large lantern appeared. It illuminated everything around it. Throwing light in every direction for a good sixty feet. Gus held it up in front of him and took the lead as he started to walk bravely into the cave. Luz and Willow gave small apprehensive looks to one another before following him in.

For the most part, the cave was empty. There were mushrooms and other kinds of fungus growing on the walls and floor, but no critters to speak of. The cave walls also had many niches and alcoves that were obscured by darkness until the light was right upon them.

About halfway through the cave a light echoed sounded off from in front of them, like a rock being kicked, or a piece of rubble falling off the wall.

"Hello?" Gus half-shouted out into the darkness. There was no response to his call as it echoed down the cave.

Gus looked back at the group for affirmation that he had heard something. The two girls nodded.

"Careful," King warned in a low tone, looking suspicious, his eyes narrowing.

The group proceeded cautiously, slowly. They walked for another hundred feet or so on pins and needles, waiting for something to jump out at them. Before Gus straightened up and turned back towards the group.

"Maybe we were just being silly, I don't think there is anything-" Gus began to talk in his normal voice.

That was when King saw something behind Gus. Something gleaming in the light being thrown off Gus's lantern. Something sharp, and pointed at Gus's back.

"Get down!" King yelled, jumping forward and tackling Gus to the ground. He was just in time for Luz and Willow to see something fly out of the darkness, through the air where Gus had just been standing, and stab into the opposite wall. Now in the full light, it looked to be an arrow of some kind, with a dark liquid dripping from the tip.

Gus and King both looked up to see a tall hooded figure step out from the shadows. He was clad in black, studded leather armor, with a sword at his hip. He held in his hand a crossbow, freshly out of ammo. As the figure stepped out of the shadows he reached for his blade.

At the time time, two other figures behind the first one emerged from the darkness, both holding crossbows. They were wearing the same attire and armed similarly with a sword on each of their hips.

"Well isn't this a nice little reunion?" The front figure said in a dark raspy voice as he pulled his sword out.

King met the man's eyes and instantly recognized him. This was one of the demon hunters that had stolen his power so long ago.

"You?!" King cried from his position, laying on top of Gus. He began to push himself up but was stopped when the front man's sword tip poked the back of his shoulder.

"Don't move." He ordered. The other two dark-robed figures came closer, into the light. Their crossbows were trained on Luz and Willow.

"We came for the human." One of the two figures hissed from the back. "Give her over peacefully, and the rest of you can live."

There was a deathly silence that hung over the group as Luz and Willow exchanged glances, as did King and Gus.

"Well? What's it gonna be, are you going to give up without resisting or do we have to kill all your friends first?" The lead man said, his blade tip tracing circles around the back of King's neck.

"I…" Luz wasn't sure what to do. She felt like she had no options. Fighting back seemed impossible in this situation. Her mind raced for spells that could help her out in this situation, but everyone she came up with was in her spellbook. The time it would take her to cast the spell from her book would be more than long enough for the man with the sword to skewer King and Gus.

"Luz, you can't!" King yelled from his place on the ground.

"Okay." Luz finally said, looking down at the floor.

The lead man smiled wickedly as he sheathed his sword. King and Gus wearily got up and scooched past Luz as they made their way back to Willow. Luz walked forward and held her hands out, ready to be cuffed. The man obliged. A set of antimagic manacles were slapped around her wrists. These bracers were specifically designed to cut off the flow of magic from a witch's hands to the rest of her body, thereby negating her ability to draw circles and cast anything.

The man stepped behind her, and pushed her forward, past the other two demon hunters. The other demon hunters still had their crossbows trained on the group, their crossbow bolts leaking the same dark liquid that the first man's shot had had on it.

As the lead man passed between his two comrades and was now behind them, he turned his head and with a sharp yet clear shout said: "Kill them."

"What?" Luz said, stopping and beginning to turn around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other demon hunters tense up, aiming their crossbows at the group. King, Gus, and Willow looked shocked as well, instinctually taking a step back.

What happened next was a blur. The arrows were loosed upon the group. To Luz it was like everything was happening in slow motion, she was about to lose her friends, get captured by the Emperor, and fail at saving Eda all in one fell swoop.

King saw what was about to happen and heroically jumped in front of Willow and Gus. Two crossbow bolts tipped with a dark liquid thunked into his chest.

Luz saw this happen and grew more desperate. She had to do something. Anything to save her friends. She had no spellbook, no scrolls. The only thing she had was… her tattoos. She wasn't sure if it would even work with the antimagic manacles around her wrists, but it was her best hope. She brought up her bound hands and slapped the Tattoo on her right shoulder.

An immense light appeared centered on Luz, accompanied by a thunderous boom amplified by the small surroundings. It was as if the cave were suddenly bathed in sunlight. The sound was so ear-shatteringly loud the demon hunters, as well as Luz's friends, could feel it in their bones.

All was still for a moment, as everyone was stunned. Everyone's eyes were trying to adjust from the dim lantern light to the bright incandescent glow that was radiating from Luz. The two demon hunters with crossbows both dropped their weapons and held onto their heads, covering their ears.

The light and sound lasted only an instant, but they were enough.

Gus was the first to see his opportunity and jump into action. With ears ringing and being nearly blinded. He quickly cast an orb of magical pure pitch blackness to encircle all the demon hunters, as well as Luz.

"What happened?" one of the demon hunters cried, holding their ears.

Perhaps they had planned this at some point in time or another, because this magical darkness, so black you can't see your hand in front of your face, was King's playground. His demonic eyes very quickly adjusted, allowing him to see through the darkness as if it were a brightly lit room. He saw the two demon hunters that had just shot him standing no more than five feet away from him, blinded, deafened, and he was so ready for payback.

With a growl of pain, King got up. He rushed forward until he was right in front of the left demon hunter. He reared back his fist and let it fly. Easily connecting with the man's face, forcing him straight into the wall of the cave. The demon hunter slumped down to the ground after that. King quickly went to the next demon hunter who was starting to get her bearings back. She had heard the loud crash next to her but didn't know what was happening. She had drawn her sword and clutched onto it for dear life.

Little good it would do her. King pulled back his fist and smashed it into the demon hunter's stomach, making her double over in pain. King let fly a right hook, and a left hook, pummeling this demon hunter in the face before finishing off with a double fist to the top of her head, sending her sprawling in the dirt.

In this time, the final, lead demon hunter had been able to grab ahold of Luz and stumble his way out of the darkness. The cave was still dark with no sources of light, but the demon hunter could see where the shroud of darkness ended in front of him. It was like a wall of swirling void. With his limited sight, the demon hunter saw a large brutish figure emerge from the darkness.

"Get back!" The demon hunter said, swinging his sword at the figure.

King casually strolled forward.

"Back, I said." He began to back away. He made it a total of three feet until he tripped over a rock and fell on his butt. In a flash, King was upon him, hovering over him menacingly. The demon hunter swung his sword in a pathetic attempt to slash King, but King merely grabbed his wrist in mid-air. King put both hands on the sword hilt and squeezed, crushing the Demon hunter's hand as he slowly turned the sword upside down, and pointed at its owner.

King pushed forward, overpowering the man and forcing the blade into his chest. It struggled but a moment against his studded leather armor, before finding a divot in it and burying past it.

"Hhrrrg." The man groaned as the blade entered him.

King brought his face very close to his before whispering to him. "I"m not the same demon you met all those years ago."

"Hhrrr... " the man whined in pain. Blood was pooling in his mouth now, coating his gritted teeth. "You will die to the Emperor. Slowly. Painfully."

"Not today." King finished as he pushed the sword the rest of the way down, the pommel of the sword now resting firmly on the man's chest, the blade all the way through him. The man's head went limp as his breathing stopped. King got up from the body and turned to see Luz, against the cave wall, apparently unconscious.

Then he noticed the blood. Her right arm was gushing blood from the wound she inflicted on herself when she cast the spell.

"Willow, Gus! Get over here!" King shouted, getting down to Luz's level, examining the wound. Willow and Gus quickly felt their way through the darkness and arrived at the other side. Gus's lantern was still lit, and it illuminated the grisly scenes.

Both Willow and Gus gasped at the body in the middle of the floor with a sword rammed through his chest. But they quickly turned their attention to Luz when they saw a large chunk of flesh and muscle was missing from Luz's right shoulder.

"She… used her own body as the catalyst for the spell?" Willow said, a hand to her mouth. Gus looked like he was about to puke.

"Can you help her?" King asked.

"I- I think so," Willow said, crouching down beside King. She made a circle with each of her hands, and both of her hands started to glow green. Willow tentatively touched around the wound, massaging and poking different spots. King could see the bleeding start to slow. Then, slowly, it appeared as if the wound began to heal rapidly, The muscle was stitched back together and a large patch of scar tissue covered the wound.

"Wow, Willow." I didn't know you could do that!" Gus said, amazed.

"Well, I mainly work with plants, but the idea of working with life forces is the same. I'm just bending the organic material to my will. Instead, this time I'm working on my friend, not plants." Willow said, her hands losing their glow.

"Well, that's a… relief…," King said. He tried to stand up, and face the body laying on the floor, but he stumbled. The world was spinning for him all of a sudden. He stumbled against the wall, leaning on it. And then very soon collapsed.

"King!" Willow said. She rushed over to him. She just now noticed that he still had two crossbow bolts sticking out of his chest.

"Oh, no! We need to get those out." Willow got her glowing hands back and started to work on King's chest. Slowly, the arrows worked their way out, and the skin healed. But King didn't feel any less dizzy, or nauseous.

"I could heal the wound, but the poison I'm assuming those bolts were tipped with is already circulating in your bloodstream," Willow announced.

"So… what's that mean?" King asked.

"I can try to slow the effects but… I can't cure you." Willow said, starting to tear up.

"Wait, what?" Gus asked. "Come on King, it's just a little poison, that's not enough to kill you… right?"

"Haha… With how I'm feeling right now, I'm not so sure." King said between ragged breaths.

"King, we need you! Luz needs you! You can't die!" Gus shouted.

"Yeah… yeah, right." King said, barely even comprehending what Gus was saying anymore. He was just getting so sleepy. So tired. He felt exhausted, and couldn't keep his eyes open.

"Hey, Hey! You need to stay awake no matter what!" Willow said, slapping him.

"Let me just…" King said before passing into unconsciousness.


	12. The capital

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do!" Gus paced around in a circle, his hands on his head.

"Calm down Gus, you aren't any good to any of us when you are panicking," Willow said. Her hands slowly tracing the entire circulatory system of King. Both King and Luz were still unconscious and they had moved them together, sitting up against the cave wall.

Gus's lantern still illuminated the dark cave for what it was worth.

"We need to go, get them some real medicine or treatment. I think Luz will wake up on her own, but if we don't find out what that poison was they were using, and find an antidote for him, we might lose King, permanently." Willow said, cutting off the magic, the green glow on her hands disappearing.

Gus looked over at the bodies on the ground. The demon hunters that had ambushed them. Gus grimaced as he went to the closest one and started to rifle through the man's pockets. After a rushed search, he found a pouch of gold coins, along with a bottle of green liquid.

"This it?" Gus asked, holding up the bottle.

"Looks like it. What's it smell like?" Willow asked.

Gus popped the cork and took a whiff.

"Uhg, like vinegar?" Gus rubbed his nose as the smell permeated his nostrils.

"Yeah, sounds like that's what they used on King. We need to get out of here, find a town, and then find a healer or herbalist that can identify that stuff and make us an antidote." Willow thought out loud.

"Alright… how are we going to transport them? King is pretty heavy." Gus asked.

"Can't you make a little wagon or something to pull them in?" Willow suggested.

"Uh, sure. I can try." Gus said before concentrating on a new spell. As he finished it, a translucent blue-purple wagon appeared.

"Alright, help me put them in and we can get going," Willow said, bending down and beginning to haul Luz's unconscious body up and onto the wagon. Gus helped her sit Luz down in the bed of the wagon, and then they turned to King. They both grabbed one of his massive arms and after some straining was able to put his bulky body onto the wagon. Gus noticed that King's breathing was slower than normal.

'At least he is still breathing.' Gus thought to himself.

With Luz and King loaded onto the cart, they began making their way to the other side of the tunnel. After some time the pinprick of light that seemed so far away at first grew larger and larger until they emerged out the other side. Standing at the cave mouth, letting their eyes adjust to the sunlight once again, they surveyed the land. On this side of the mountain, there was a large valley filled with tall grasses, some sparse trees, and there, sitting a few miles from their current position, was the capitol.

The Capitol had large walls around the entire perimeter with only a couple gates to enter or exit from. All of them would be heavily guarded. It was also the only settlement around. It would have taken even longer to go back to Ribcage City, and the poison was a time-sensitive issue. Plus, the capital was much more likely than Ribcage City to have healers or alchemists able to handle whatever poison King had been injected with.

"How are we supposed to get in there? They will have Luz's wanted posters all over the place, we will all get arrested at the gate." Gus reminded Willow.

"I have an idea, but it will require some luck," Willow said, biting her lip. There was a slight pause.

"And…? Are you going to tell me what it is?" Gus arched an eyebrow.

"You'll see." Willow smiled weakly.

The two made their way down the path out of the mountains and across the rolling hills towards the capitol. Once again, they passed a couple traders and farmers who looked on their incapacitated friends with worry, concussion, and accusation towards Gus and Willow. However, none of the common folk were of any real consequence.

About half a mile from the gate, they could start to make out the figures who were watching over everyone going into and out of the city. It was definitely a high-security checkpoint. No way were they going to get in that way.

Willow suddenly abruptly turned, heading off the road, and into the grass. Gus nearly kept walking on the path without her before sharply turning the wagon offroad. It was much harder to pull the wagon through the tiny hills and divots in the rough ground than it was to pull it on the smooth dirt path, but he trusted Willow wasn't making him do it for nothing.

The two walked behind a clump of trees, obscuring themselves from any prying eyes from the road or from the walls of the capitol. Gus finally stopped behind the tree where Willow led him, gasping for breath.

"Okay, now what?" Gus asked.

"We sneak in," Willow said.

"Uh… How?" We are half a mile away from the walls of the capitol if you forgot?" Gus said.

"Like this," Willow said before holding her hands out and concentrating fiercely. The ground around them began to tremble. The soil in front of them suddenly collapsed into a hole. Dirt shot up into the air, temporarily blinding Gus. When the air cleared, Gus looked down, there was a steep slope leading down to an underground tunnel.

"Uh… What is that?" Gus pointed.

"Our way in." Willow smiled before slowly sliding down into the dusty tunnel.

Gus carefully pulled the cart behind him as he made his way down.

"How did you know it was here?" Gus asked.

"Sometimes, when you are as 'attuned' to nature as much as I am, the plants tell you things." Willow talked in a roundabout way.

"You mean to tell me you can talk to the plants now?" Gus said, unamused.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Willow said as she began to walk deeper into the pitch black of the tunnel. "Can you summon your lantern again? It's pretty dark down here."

Gus obliged and shown his tunnel further down the tunnel as he followed along behind Willow. The tunnel looked old, very old, ancient even. It seemed to be hewn of cobblestone with ancient royal symbols etched into the walls every so many feet.

"What is this place, anyway?" Gus asked.

"Some kind of ancient escape tunnel, it looks like. Like if the town ever got attacked the royals could slip out through this." Willow explained.

"Where does it go?" Gus asked.

"To the capitol, somewhere inside the walls," Willow said.

"Well, I know that!" Gus rolled his eyes. "Where does it let out at?"

"Oh, probably near the ocean or something, far away from the city, that's for sure," Willow said.

The two walked in silence for what seemed like hours when they finally got to the end of the tunnel. A large stone door with a lever next to it.

"Well, you want to be the one to see where this leads?" Willow offered up the lever to Gus.

Gus looked back at his two sleeping friends.

"Before we do that, we should do something about them. We can't just be toasting around unconscious people in a wagon in the city. You saw the looks those travelers gave us on the road, any guards who see them will be twice as bothersome." Gus said.

"Hmm… The invisibility cloaks?" Willow suggested.

Gus thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess. We don't have any better options, I guess." Gus shrugged.

So, Willow quickly searched for the two cloaks, finding them right where she thought they should be. She pulled them out, unfolded them, and then gently laid them atop her two friends. Together, they were large enough to drape down the sides of the wagon, so only the very bottom of the wheels were still visible. Luckily, the cloaks were also long enough in one dimension that Gus could wrap it around the handle, so the handle would also be invisible.

"Alright, let's do this," Gus said, looking at the lever to the stone door. He went ahead and pulled it. It was stuck at first, but after a few good shakes it loosened up and started to move, as he pulled it, the stone wall began to sink back towards them, and then move to the left. Directly outside, they could see the backside of one of the walls of the city.

Willow peeked her head out the newly formed door frame and looked around, no one in sight. It seemed to be in a back alley somewhere on the outskirts of town. She stepped out and motioned for Gus to follow, which he did. Looking back at the door frame, from this side, it seemed to appear out of the side of a building. There was a torch sconce near the frame that looked as though it had been pulled forward. Willow made a guess and pushed the scone back into place. When she did the door went back into place, leaving the wall seamless.

"Alright, now where to?" Gus asked.

"We should get out of here first, and start looking for a healer," Willow suggested.

They walked around the building towards the direction they could hear more of the hustle and bustle of the city. As they turned the corner, they could see the front of the building that they walked out of. It was the royal stables, which was located just outside and to the left of the castle. They looked down the street, and sure enough, they could see the entrance to the castle. With the elite guards standing there. The two of them quickly scuttled across the street away from the castle, praying they wouldn't be seen. They continued to walk, quickly, just in case they had been seen. They zig-zagged in and out of back alleys and main streets trying to blend in as they were on the lookout for any kind of apothecary or doctor.

Out of sheer dumb luck, or perhaps there were many scattered around the city, After only a few minutes of walking around the city, and mainly away from the castle, Willow spotted a wooden sign with the words "Martha's Herbs" hanging above a doorway. Willow and Gus quickly made their way inside.

Inside, the small shop smelled of different kinds of herbs all being burnt together. It smelled nice, but the scent was a little overpowering. Behind the front desk sat an old woman. Beside her, a mortar and pestle lay with some kind of flower in the middle of being ground up. Behind Martha, was a set of glass bottles, sitting atop small fires, attached to tubing. The liquid inside the bottles bubbled as it was boiled.

"Ahh, Hello dearies." The old woman smiled and sat up in her chair. She put down the crochet needles she had been fiddling with, there was a half-knitted scarf dangling from the needles.

"Welcome, Welcome to old auntie Martha's shop." The old woman said, greeting them as she began the long process of standing up from the chair.

"Hello, mam," Willow said.

Gus pulled the bottom wheels of the wagon over the small step up into the shop and the door clanged against the invisible wagon before shutting behind it. There was just enough room for the wagon to sit inside the shop without knocking over shelves or displays. The old woman arched an eyebrow as Gus lugged in something she could not see.

"We were hoping you could help us with this," Willow said before walking over to the wagon, grabbing the cloaks of invisibility and pulling them off, revealing Luz and King lying in the wagon, unconscious.

"What's…" Martha started.

"He was poisoned, and she… I thought she would be awake by now." Willow explained folding up the cloaks of invisibility.

"There are hundreds of different kinds of poisons, without knowing what it was, there is no way to cure him." The old woman started to say.

Gus fished around his back pocket before pulling out the small bottle of green liquid.

"We think it was this," Gus said, holding the bottle out.

Martha took it and examined the bottle. No label, no writing, just a blank bottle full of green liquid.

"Hmm… it might be hard to identify it like this," Martha said. She then popped the cork and held it under her nose. She sharply pushed it away from her face.

"Never mind, that's 'Endless Bloom'. It's the only poison that has that kind of unique, pungent scent." Martha corked the bottle again. And set it on the counter.

"Well, is there an antidote?" Gus asked, hopefully.

"Yes… but it's not cheap. It comes from the Daylight Lillies that grow on the top of the mountain, and they only bloom for a couple weeks in the spring." Martha says.

"You wouldn't happen to have some saved, would you?" Willow asked.

"I might have one bottle left," Martha said.

"Please, we NEED that antidote!" Willow said.

"As I said, the stuff is rare, it's going to cost you," Martha said.

Gus reached back for the small coin purse he pulled off the demon hunter. He pulled it out and opened it, beginning to count. Martha held up her hand.

"Coin won't do. For something like this I'm going to need something a little more… personal." Martha smiled.

"What do you want, then?" Willow asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Oh, nothing too important… something you won't even miss." As she says this she reaches under the counter and brings out two empty small jars. "A strand of hair or a toenail clipping will do."

"A toenail clipping?" Gus asked.

"Yes, that will do nicely," Martha answered.

"Why do you want…" Gus started.

"Oh, you needn't worry about that." Martha cut him off.

"I'm not sure about this," Gus said, looking over at Willow.

"You want to save your friends, don't you?" Martha asked.

Exchanging a look, Gus and Willow complied, they each took a bottle. Willow plucked out one of her long, black hairs and put it in the jar. Gus on the other hand clipped a toenail and put it inside his jar. Resealing the jars the two put them back on the counter. Martha took them with a smile and stashed them back under the counter. She then turned around and started rooting around on the top shelf of one of the many shelves filled with jars, bottles, and all assortments of glassware. She reached towards the back and pulled out a faintly glowing light blue potion.

"This is what you need. Simply feed it to the one afflicted with poison and they should wake up." Martha gently held out the bottle.

"Thank you…" Willow said, still uneasy about giving away her hair as payment. She grabbed the bottle and uncorked it. She knelt down at the side of the wagon next to King and used her free hand to grab King's lower jaw. She pried his mouth open, and with Gus's help tiled his head back enough to start trickling the potion in his mouth.

After about a third of the bottle had been used King started to stir. Once the entire thing had been drained, and King had still not fully woken up Willow started to worry. The two of them let go of King and let him settle back down into his former sleeping position.

"What if it didn't wor-" Willow started to say before she was interrupted.

King started coughing uncontrollably. Only for a moment though, before his eyes shot open and he lurched forward in the wagon. He looked around, confused. He smacked his lips twice before coming to his senses.

"Where are we? What happened? Did you two feed me something?" King asked all at once.

"King!" Willow said before getting back down to his level and hugging him.

"Whoa, what's that about?" King said, putting one arm around her.

"We thought you were going to die!" Willow said, her voice muffled by being buried in his shoulder.

"Ha, you think anything can kill me? Get real." King huffed.

"It's good to have you back, buddy," Gus said.

King then looked around himself and saw Luz still lying unconscious in the wagon.

"Luz isn't awake yet? What happened? What's wrong with her?" King asked, a bit worried."

Gus turned back to Martha.

"Is there anything you can do for her? She wasn't poisoned, but she used a big flashy spell and has been knocked out ever since." Gus explained.

"Hm…. Probably just tired." Martha said before reaching over to her right, she grabbed a small capsule and broke it in half. "Put these under her nose, that'll wake her up."

Gus took the small capsules and could smell their pungent odor from there. He held them away from his face and brought them over to the other side of the wagon and wafted them smell under Luz's nose.

Sure enough, Luz bolted upright in the wagon.

"Wha- Huh? Ugh, Gus! What is that stuff?" Luz asked.

Gus dropped the capsules and sighed, relieved.

"What happened?" Luz asked. "The last thing I remember is being ambushed by the demon hunter guys."

"Yeah, we uh… Why don't we get out of here and we can explain everything?" Willow suggested.

"Where is here?" Luz asked.

"The capitol," Gus said.

"The capital?! Already?" Luz asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we had to sneak in using…. As I said, let's get out of here and we can explain it." Willow said again.

"Alright," Luz said as she stood up out of the wagon, stretching as she stood. Likewise, King begrudgingly got out of the wagon, his muscles and joints stiff from the poison's after effect. With a flick of his wrist, the wagon vanished.

"Here, you might want to wear this while we are outside." Willow handed Luz one of the cloaks of invisibility.

"Thanks," Luz said taking it and draping it over her shoulders, leaving only her head still visible.

"Put the hood up once we go outside, then just follow us," Willow told Luz.

"Got it," Luz said.

"Thanks again for all the help," Willow said as the group got ready to leave Madam Martha's shop.

"Take care dearies, and if you ever need any kind of alchemical concoction, don't be afraid to stop back by!" She waved to them as they exited the shop.

Outside they were back out on the streets, it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere to grab a bite to eat and try to strategize how exactly they are going to break into Belos's castle in the middle of the capitol. After a short jaunt around a couple blocks, they did find a tavern that was open and thankfully, not very busy. However, Gus did notice a familiar-looking black crow sitting atop the tavern signpost. Strange for a bird to sit there alone in the busy city.

The group made their way inside, Luz taking off her invisibility cloak just before entering, and found a table. In a matter of minutes, a server came up and asked what they wanted. Without much thought an order of drinks was ordered, as well as some food to split. The server wandered off leaving the group free to talk.

"Alright, guys. This is it. We are here now. We have our invisibility cloaks. Now what?" Gus asked.

"I have been thinking about that for a while, I think our best bet will be to use the two invisibility cloaks we have to try to sneak inside and free Eda without altering or fighting anyone," Luz said.

"But we only have two cloaks, and we don't even know if they will work inside the anti-magic field that is around that place," Willow said

"We will just have to trust Lillith." Luz shrugged.

"Who is staying behind?" King asked.

"I think that you and I should go," Luz said to King.

"You want to take King? On a stealth mission?" Gus raised an eyebrow.

"Eda is closest to me and him, so yes I think he should be the one to come with me," Luz explained.

"Alright," Gus said sitting back in his chair after a moment.

"What about backup plans?" Willow asked. "What if the cloaks don't work, what if you are caught, how are we going to know that you guys are in trouble?"

Luz thought for a second. "I'm not sure. I guess… You won't." Luz said in a somber voice.

"If we don't come back after an hour or two just assume we died," King said in a chipper tone.

There was a grim silence at the table. Which was promptly interrupted by the server coming back with a pint of ale for everyone. Along with the appetizer they ordered, which seemed to be some kind of animal that had undergone some kind of processing making it unrecognizable. Either way, there were bones stuck up ready to be pulled out and chewed on, much like a rack of ribs.

"So… that's our plan, huh? Just let you guys sneak in and hope for the best?" Willow asked, her face was full of doubt. "How are you even going to find Eda? We don't have any idea what the inside of that place is like. I hardly remember much of anything from our field trip all those years ago."

"I know, I know. We are just going to have to go slow, take our time, and try to figure out where they stashed Eda. Once we find her, we can break her out, and get the heck out of there." Luz said, trying to calm Willow.

"Alright. So when are we doing this?" Gus asked.

"Tonight, I think would be the best option," Luz said.

"Okay," Willow said.

"I'm ready whenever," King interjected.

The group paid for their meal and headed out to look for an inn. Just wanting somewhere they could hang out until night time. Somewhere to bring Eda back to when they got her out. Before leaving the city. They did find one, easily enough. They paid for a room and went to rest for the upcoming raid. They talked about strategy for another good amount of time before resigning back to what they had already decided on: Luz and King would sneak inside, and Gus and Willow would wait outside. Night quickly fell and as the sun was all but disappearing over the horizon, the group headed out.

They made their way back to the castle, on the outskirts of it, Luz and King dawned their cloaks, and split up from Gus and Willow, who went to their spots to monitor. Luz and King stealthily walked forward towards the bridge that connected the main castle to the surrounding area. The area in between fell far below to nothing but a pit of spikes. As they approached the bridge, they could see it was retracted currently.

"We will need to wait for someone to extend it, so we can board it with them and sneak inside," Luz whispered to King.

"That could take hours," King said.

"It's our only option," Luz said.

As they got nearer the drawbridge they could see a sheen in the air, like a dome that protected the entire building. The anti-magic field. This is where they would see if their plan had any hope of working or not. Steeling herself, Luz walked through it.

And nothing happened, she looked down at her shoes and found she was still invisible, a couple seconds later she heard King step through it as well, she turned around and saw nothing there, just as she expected.

"Yes!" Luz said in an excited whisper to King. "I think we might be able to pull this off!"

Suddenly, the drawbridge started to move, extending out towards them. But, there was no one on it. Luz was confused for a moment before a loud, cold voice echoed through the area.

"Welcome, Luz the human." The voice boomed out. "Please, come right in. I have been expecting you for quite some time now."

Luz looked up trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. On the castle wall, she saw a single figure silhouetted. She watched as a black crow flew past overhead and landed on its shoulder.


End file.
